CHE 499 (Spring 04) __________________

LAST NAME, FIRST

Problem set #8
1. Estimate the clearance and fractional % removal of urea from a flat-plate dialyzer for both
co-current and counter-current flow under the following conditions: (Note: The same
equation to calculate the extraction ratio is used for a co-current or a counter-current dialyzer
regardless of the type.)
urea diffusivity = 210
-5
cm
2
/sec
4 flat plate membranes each with the following dimensions:
dialyzer length = 85 cm
dialyzer width = 15 cm
blood flow rate = 200 ml/min (total)
dialyzer flow rate = 500 ml/min (total)
Mass transfer resistances
membrane = 25 min/cm
blood-side = 8 min/cm
dialysate side = 35 min/cm
2. Estimate the urea flux [(NH
2
)
2
CO] (g/m
2
/hr) through a cellulosic membrane that is 0.001
inches in thickness. The blood at the membrane surface has a urea concentration of 1 mg/ml.
Assume the dialysis fluid on the other side of the membrane surface is free of urea. The void
volume of the cellulosic membrane is 0.4 and the membrane tortuosity is 2.0. The pores in
the membrane have a diameter such that the exclude all molecules larger than a molecular
weight of 20,000. The effective diffusion coefficient of the urea in the membrane (D
m
) can be
estimated with the Renkin equation.
D
m
/D = (1 a/r)
2 1
1
]
1

,
_

,
_

,
_

5 3
95 . 0 09 . 2 1 . 2 1
r
a
r
a
r
a
In this equation D is the diffusivity of urea in blood (= 210
-5
cm
2
/sec) and a is the radius of
urea (= 0.510
-7
cm), and r is the pore radius.
3. Yang and Cussler reported the following data for the mass-transfer coefficient of water
flowing within hollow fibers. (Note: D denotes the diffusivity of water.)
Pe =
DL
VD
fiber hollow
2

30 50 100 300 500 1000 3000

Sh =
D
D k
fiber hollow m
4.8 6.0 7.6 9.8 13.0 18.0 30.0
Plot the data against the correlation Sh = 1.86Pe
13
. !eter"ine the standard error stde and the
correlation coefficient r
stde =
2
1
N
( )

N
i
i i
Sh Sh
1
2
#e$%
=
2 N
S
, where S = ( )

N
i
i i
Sh Sh
1
2
#e$%
r =
t
S
S
1
, where S
t
= ( )

N
i
i
i
Sh Sh
1
2
#e$%
#e$%
In this expression #e$% i Sh is the mean of the experimental dependent variable (Sh).
4. An alternative approach for treating kidney failure is called continuous ambulatory peritoneal
dialysis (CAPD). In this treatment, mass transfer occurs across the peritoneum, a membrane-like
tissue that lines the abdominal cavity. The peritoneum separates blood from a CAPD solution of
glucose and electrolyte as shown in Figure 1. The CAPD solution is added and later removed
from the peritoneal cavity through an in-dwelling catheter. The patient using CAPD is
responsible for changing the used CAPD solution contained in a bag attached outside the body.
This is a relatively simple process that can take place at home or even at work. At the start of
CAPD using a 2.5 wt % glucose solution, the filtration rate of water from the plasma was
determined to be about 6 ml/min. The surface area of the peritoneum is 1.75 m
2
and the
reflection coefficient of glucose is 0.37. The glucose level in the blood is 5.6 mOsM. The body
temperature is 37
o
C. Estimate the hydraulic conductance (L
p
in ml/hrm
2
mmHg) of the peritoneal
membrane.
P e r i t o n e a l m e m b r a n e
B l o o d S o l u t i o n o f
g l u c o s e a n d
e l e c t r o l y t e s
W a t e r
Figure 1 A schematic of the water filtration rate through the peritoneal membrane.
5. Normal blood plasma contains a low level of free hemoglobin (though most hemoglobin
resides in erythrocytes), so it could be of interest to know the hemoglobin diffusivity in plasma
D
Hb
. Estimate D
Hb
at 37
o
C by assuming that this globular protein can be modeled as an
impervious sphere of 6.0 nm diameter.
6. The resistance to mass transfer in the parallel-membrane artificial kidney is R = R
b
+ R
m
+ R
d
,
where R = 1/K
o
and K
o
is the overall mass transfer coefficient. Given the following data, for the
transport of urea in a specific device involving a cellulose acetate membrane, calculate the
percentage of R which can be attributed to R
b
, R
m
, and R
d
membrane thickness = 0.45 mm k
b
= 0.910
-4
cm/s
partition coefficient K = 0.28 (C
m
= KC
s
b
)
k
d
= 1.610
-4
cm/s D
m
= 410
-7
cm
2
/s
7. Calculate the ultrafiltration rate of water, assuming a membrane surface area of 1 m
2
. The
oncotic pressure of the plasma proteins is 28 mmHg. The hydraulic conductance of the
membrane is 3 ml/hr/m2/mmHg. How much water would be removed after 6 hours of dialysis?
Assume blood enters the device at 120 mmHg (gauge) and leaves at 100 mmHg (gauge). The
dialysate fluid enters at 150 mmHg (gauge) and leaves at 200 mmHg (gauge).