3-5

Chapter 3
Example 3.1-3 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Calculate the mass transfer from a sphere of naphthalene to air at 45
o
C and 1 atm abs flowing
at a velocity of 0.305 m/s. The diameter of the sphere is 25.4 mm. The diffusivity of
naphthalene in air at 45
o
C is 6.9210
-6
m
2
/s and the vapor pressure of solid naphthalene is
0.555 mmHg. The mass transfer coefficient may be obtained from the following correlation:


D
Sh = 2 + 0.552Re
0.53
Sc
1/3
(Ref: Transport Processes and Separation Process by C.J. Geankoplis, Prentice Hall, 4
th
Edition, 2003)
Solution ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Let A denote naphthalene and B denote air. Since the mole fraction of naphthalene is very
small, the physical properties of air at 45
o
C and 1 atm will be used for the gas mixture.

=
B
= 1.9310
-5
Pa.s, =
B
= 1.113 kg/m
3


We now evaluate the dimensionless numbers:

Sc =
AB
D

=
5
6
1.93 10
(1.113)(6.92 10 )

= 2.506

Re =
VD

=
5
(1.113)(0.0254)(0.305)
1.93 10

= 446.8


D
Sh = 2 + 0.552Re
0.53
Sc
1/3
= 21 =
c
AB
k D
D


k
c
=
6
(21)(6.92 10 )
0.0254

= 5.7210
-3
m/s

N
A
=
(1 )
c
A lm
k
y
(c
Ai
c
A
) =
(1 )
c
A lm
k
y RT
(p
Ai
p
A
)

(1 y
A
)
lm
=
(1 ) (1 )
1
ln
1
A Ai
A
Ai
y y
y
y

| |
|

\
1

N
A
=
3
5.72 10
(8314)(318)

5
0.555 1.013 10
0
760
| |

|
\
= 1.6010
-7
kmol/m
2
s

The mass transfer rate from the sphere is then

W
A
= D
2
N
A
= (0.0254)
2
(1.6010
-7
) = 3.2410
-10
kmol/s
3-6
Example 3.1-4 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------
An experiment can be performed to determine the mass transfer coefficient by flowing pure
water through a tube constructed of solid benzoic acid. The saturated concentration of
benzoic acid is 2.010
-2
g/cm
3
. The water velocity is 10 cm/s and the mass of the tube is
reduced by 0.62 g after 3 hr. Determine the mass transfer coefficient for the dissolution of
benzoic acid in water if the tube diameter is 1.0 cm and the tube length is 20 cm.
Solution ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------



Making a material balance of benzoic acid over the control volume D
2
x/4 we have

CV
2
4
x
D
CV
2
4
x x
D
+
+ k
c
(C* C)Dx = 0 (E-1)

In this expression, C is the bulk concentration of benzoic acid in water within the tube and
C* is the saturated benzoic acid concentration in water at the solid and liquid interface. k
c
is
the mass transfer coefficient for the dissolution of benzoic acid in water. Dividing equation
(E-1) by D
2
x/4 gives

V
| |
x x x
C C
x
+

| |
|

\
+ k
c
(C* C)
4
D
= 0 (E-2)

Taking the limit as x 0, we have

V
dC
dx
+ k
c
(C* C)
4
D
= 0

Separating the variables and integrating to obtain


0
*
L
C
dC
C C

=
4
c
k
DV
0
L
dx

ln
*
*
L
C C
C

| |
|
\
=
4
c
k L
DV
=> C
L
= C*
4
1 exp
c
k
L
DV
( | |

|
(
\


The mass transfer rate to the water is then

W = V
2
4
D
( C
L
0) = V
2
4
D
C
L

x
V
V
3-7
The mass change of the tube during the time t is given by

m = Wt = V
2
4
D
tC*
4
1 exp
c
k
L
DV
( | |

|
(
\


For x << 1, exp( x) 1 x, therefore

m = V
2
4
D
tC*
4
c
k L
DV
= DL tC*k
c

The mass transfer coefficient is evaluated

k
c
=
*
m
DLtC

=
0.62
(1)(20)(3 3600)(0.02)
= 4.5710
-5
cm/s

Now we need to check the condition that x =
4
c
k L
DV
<< 1


4
c
k L
DV
=
5
(4 4.57 10 )(20)
(1)(10)

= 3.6510
-4
<< 1


Example 3.1-5 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Liquid water at 25
o
C is to be aerated in a bubble column where finely air bubbles with
diameter d
B
of 0.5 mm are injected cocurrently with the liquid. The interfacial contact area,
a, between air and water can be calculated from the expression a = 6/d
B
, where is the
volume fraction of the injected air. The bubble column is 1.8 m high with a superficial liquid
velocity of 0.2 m/s. The oxygen concentration of the inlet water is 0.1210
-4
kmol/m
3
. The
saturated oxygen concentration is 2.6710
-4
kmol/m
3
. Determine the oxygen concentration of
the outlet water if the mass transfer coefficient for the transfer of oxygen from the liquid
interface to the bulk water is 5.810
-6
m/s. The diffusivity of oxygen in water is 2.4210
-9

m
2
/s. The volume fraction of the injected air is 0.2.
Solution ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Making a steady state material balance for dissolved oxygen in water we have

CVA|
x
CVA|
x+x
+ (1 )A
A
x
N (1 )A
A
x x
N
+
+ k
c
(C* C)aAx = 0

In this expression, C is the bulk concentration of oxygen in water, C* is the saturated oxygen
concentration, A is the cross sectional area of the bubble column, V is the superficial liquid
velocity, N
A
is the molar flux of oxygen in the x direction, and k
c
is the mass transfer
coefficient. Dividing this equation by Ax and taking the limit as x 0 we obtain

(1 )
A
dN
dx
V
dC
dx
+ k
c
(C* C)a = 0 (E-1)

3-8



Substituting N
A
= D
AB
dC
dx
into equation (E-1) we have

(1 )D
AB
2
2
d C
dx
V
dC
dx
+ k
c
(C* C)a = 0 (E-2)

The mass transfer contribution by axial diffusion, D
AB
2
2
d C
dx
, is usually much smaller than the
other terms. If we neglect the axial diffusion, equation (E-2) becomes

V
dC
dx
+ k
c
(C* C)a = 0

Separating the variables and integrating to obtain


0 *
L
C
C
dC
C C

=
c
ak
V
0
L
dx

ln
0
*
*
L
C C
C C
| |
|

\
=
c
ak L
V
=> C
L
= C* (C* C
0
) exp
c
ak
L
V
| |

|
\


We have
c
ak
V
L =
6
c
B
k L
d V

=
6
3
(6)(0.2)(5.8 10 )(1.8)
(0.5 10 )(0.2)

= 0.1253

C
L
= 2.6710
-4
(2.67 0.12)10
-4
exp( 0.1253) = 0.4210
-4
kmol/m
3
3-9
3.2 Packed Column

Packed towers can be used for continuous countercurrent contacting of gas and liquid in
absorption and for vapor-liquid contacting in distillation. In a packed column used for gas-
liquid contact, the liquid flows downward over the surface of the packing and the gas flows
upward in the void space of the packing material. A low pressure drop and, hence, low
energy consumption is very important in the performance of packed towers. The packing
material provides a very large surface area for mass transfer, but it also results in a pressure
drop because of friction. The performance of packed towers depends upon the hydraulic
operating characteristics of wet and dry packing. In dry packing, there is only the flow of a
single fluid phase through a column of stationary solid particles. Such flow occurs in fixed-
bed catalytic reactor and sorption operations (including adsorption, ion exchange, ion
exclusion, etc.) In wet packing, two-phase flow is encountered. The phases will be a gas and
a liquid in distillation, absorption, or stripping. When the liquid flows over the packing it
occupies some of the void volume in the packing normally filled by the gas, therefore the
performance of wet packing is different from that of dry packing.

For dry packing, the pressure drop may be correlated by Ergun equation


|

\
|

h
P
(
(

s f
c p
v
g D

|
|

\
|

1
3
= 150
Re
1
N

+ 1.75 (3.2-1)

where
P = pressure drop through the packed bed
h = bed height
D
p
= particle diameter

f
= fluid density
v
s
= superficial velocity at a density averaged between inlet and outlet conditions
= bed porosity
N
Re
= average Reynolds number based upon superficial velocity

f s p
v D
When the
packing has a shape different from spherical, an effective particle diameter is defined

D
p
=
p
p
A
V 6
=
s
A
) 1 ( 6
(3.2-2)
where
A
s
= interfacial area of packing per unit of packing volume, ft
2
/ft
3
or m
2
/m
3

The effective particle diameter D
p
in Eq. (3.2-1) can be replaced by
s
D
p
where D
p
now
represents the particle size of a sphere having the same volume as the particle and
s
the
shape factor. The bed porosity, , which is the fraction of total volume that is void is defined
as


bed entire of volume
voids volume

3-10


bed entire of volume
particles of volume bed entire of volume


=
h R
density particle
particles all of weight
h R
2
2

(3.2-3)

where R = inside radius of column,

A
s
and are characteristics of the packing. Experimental
values of can easily be determined from Eq. (3.2-3) but A
s
for non-spherical particles is
usually more difficult to obtain. Values of A
s
and can be found in various references
6,7
for
the common commercial packing. A
s
for spheres can be computed from the volume and
surface area of a sphere.

For wet packing, the pressure drop correlation is given by Leva
8



|

\
|

h
P
= ( )
L
L /
10
|
|

\
|
v
v
G

2
(3.2-4)

where P is the pressure drop (psf), h is the packing height (ft), L is the liquid mass flow rate
per unit area (lb/hr-ft
2
), G
v
is the gas mass flow rate per unit area (lb/hr-ft
2
),
L
is the liquid
density (lb/ft
3
),
V
is the gas density (lb/ft
3
), and and are packing parameters
9
.
The initial procedure for designing a packed column is similar to that for a plate column.
However we will need to follow different procedure in the calculation of the column
diameter and height.

Vapor Liquid
y
y
i
x
i
x
y
y
i
x
i
x
Mass transfer from the liquid
to the gas phase
Mass transfer from the gas
to the liquid phase
Vapor Liquid
A
i
A
i


Figure 3.2-1 Mass transfer across the interface.

6
Mc Cabe W. L. et al , Unit Operations of Chemical Engineering, McGraw-Hill, 1993, pg. 689
7
Perry, J. H., Chemical Engineers Handbook, McGraw-Hill, 1984, pg. 18-23
8
Leva M., Chem. Eng. Prog. Symp. Ser. 50(10): 51 (1954)
9
Wankat, P. C., Equilibrium Staged Separations, Elsevier, 1988, pg.420