Introduction

 Three fundamental transfer processes:

i) Momentum transfer
ii) Heat transfer
iii) Mass transfer

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 Mass transfer may occur in a gas
mixture, a liquid solution or solid.
 Mass transfer occurs whenever there is
a gradient in the concentration of a
species.
 The basic mechanisms are the same
whether the phase is a gas, liquid, or
solid.
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Definition of Concentration
i) Number of molecules of each species
present per unit volume
(molecules/m3)
ii) Molar concentration of species i =
Number of moles of i per unit volume
(kmol/m3)
iii) Mass concentration = Mass of i per
unit volume (kg/m3)
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 Diffusion phenomena
 Fick’s law: linear relation between the rate of
diffusion of chemical species and the
concentration gradient of that species.
 Thermal diffusion: Diffusion due to a
temperature gradient. Usually negligible unless
the temperature gradient is very large.
 Pressure diffusion: Diffusion due to a pressure
gradient. Usually negligible unless the pressure
gradient is very large.

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 Forced diffusion: Diffusion due to
external force field acting on a
molecule. Forced diffusion occurs when
an electrical field is imposed on an
electrolyte ( for example, in charging an
automobile battery)
 Knudsen diffusion: Diffusion
phenomena occur in porous solids.
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 Whenever there is concentration difference in a medium,
nature tends to equalize
things by forcing a flow
from the high to the low
concentration region.

Before After

 The molecular transport process of mass is characterized

by the general equation:

Rate of transfer process = driving force

resistance
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 Example of Mass Transfer Processes
 Consider a tank that is divided into two equal
parts by a partition.
 Initially, the left half of the tank contains
nitrogen N2 gas while the right half contains
O2 at the same temperature and pressure.
 When the partition is removed the N2
molecules will start diffusing into the air while
the O2 molecules diffuse into the N2.
 If we wait long enough, we will have a
homogeneous mixture of N2 and O2 in the
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tank.
 Liquid in open pail of water evaporates
into air because of the difference in
concentration of water vapor at the
water surface and the surrounding air.
 A drop of blue liquid dye is added to a
cup of water. The dye molecules will
diffuse slowly by molecular diffusion to
all parts of the water.
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Molecular Diffusion Equation
 Fick’s Law dcA
J *
AZ  DAB
dz
*
J A is the molar flux of component A in the
z direction in kg mol A/s.m2.

D AB is the molecular diffusivity of the

molecule A in B in m2/s
c A is the concentration of A in kg mol/m3.
z is the distance of diffusion in m
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 Fick’s Law of Diffusion
 Molecular diffusion or molecular transport can be defined as the
transfer or movement of individual molecules through a fluid by
mean of the random, individual movements of the molecules.
(2) A

B B B

B B B
B
B
B B

(1) A
Figure 3: Schematic diagram of molecular diffusion process
 If there are greater number of A molecules near point (1) than at
(2), then since molecules diffuse randomly in both direction, more A
molecules will diffuse from (1) to (2) than from (2) to (1).
 The net diffusion of A is from highPrakash
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 The two modes of mass transfer:
- Molecular diffusion
- Convective mass transfer

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 Molecular diffusion
The diffusion of molecules when the whole
bulk fluid is not moving but stationary.
Diffusion of molecules is due to a
concentration gradient.
The general Fick’s Law Equation for binary mixture of A and B

dx A
*
J AZ   cD AB
dz
c = total concentration of A and B [kgmol (A + B)/m3]
xA= mole fraction of A in the mixture of A and B

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 Convection Mass Transfer
 When a fluid flowing outside a solid surface in forced convection
motion, rate of convective mass transfer is given by:

N A  k c (c L1  c Li )
kc - mass transfer coefficient (m/s)
cL1 - bulk fluid conc.
cLi - conc of fluid near the solid surface

 Kc depend on:
1. system geometry
2. Fluid properties
3. Flow velocity Dr Nikhil Prakash