Diffusive and convective flow

For porous membranes the mass transport mechanisms that prevail depend mainly on the membrane s mean pore size [1.1, 1.3], and the size and type of the diffusing molecules. For mesoporous and macroporous membranes molecular and Knudsen diffusion, and convective flow are the prevailing means of transport [1.15, 1.16]. The description of transport in such membranes has either utilized a Fickian description of diffusion [1.16] or more elaborate Dusty Gas Model (DGM) approaches [1.17]. For microporous membranes the interaction between the diffusing molecules and the membrane pore surface is of great importance to determine the transport characteristics. The description of transport through such membranes has either utilized the Stefan-Maxwell formulation [1.18, 1.19, 1.20] or more involved molecular dynamics simulation techniques [1.21]. 

In many practical problems, both diffusion and convective flow occur. In some cases, especially in fast mass transfer in concentrated solutions, the diffusion itself causes the convection. This type of mass transfer, a subject of Chapter 3, requires more complicated physical and mathematical analyses. 

As their name suggests, these models are based on the physical principles of diffusion and convection, which govern the mixing process. According to the flow pattern, the reactor is divided into different zones with different flow characteristics. 

Equation (15) is derived under the assumption that the amount of adsorbed component transferred by flow or diffusion of the solid phase may be neglected. This assumption is clearly justified in cases of fixed-bed operation, and it is believed to be permissible in many cases of slurries or fluidized beds, since the absolute amount of adsorbed component will probably be quite low due to its low diffusivity in the interior of the catalyst pellet. The assumption can, however, be waived by including in Eq. (15) the appropriate diffusive and convective terms. 

Similar convection-diffusion equations to the Navier-Stokes equation can be formulated for enthalpy or species concentration. In all of these formulations there is always a superposition of diffusive and convective transport of a field quantity, supplemented by source terms describing creation or destruction of the transported quantity. There are two fundamental assumptions on which the Navier-Stokes and other convection-diffusion equations are based. The first and most fundamental is the continuum hypothesis it is assumed that the fluid can be described by a scalar or vector field, such as density or velocity. In fact, the field quantities have to be regarded as local averages over a large number of particles contained in a volume element embracing the point of interest. The second hypothesis relates to the local statistical distribution of the particles in phase space the standard convection-diffusion equations rely on the assumption of local thermal equilibrium. For gas flow, this means that a Maxwell-Boltzmann distribution is assumed for the velocity of the particles in the frame-of-reference co-moving with the fluid. Especially the second assumption may break dovm when gas flow at high temperature or low pressure in micro channels is considered, as will be discussed below. 

Under realistic conditions a balance is secured during current flow because of additional mechanisms of mass transport in the electrolyte diffusion and convection. The initial inbalance between the rates of migration and reaction brings about a change in component concentrations next to the electrode surfaces, and thus gives rise to concentration gradients. As a result, a diffusion flux develops for each component. Moreover, in liquid electrolytes, hydrodynamic flows bringing about convective fluxes Ji j of the dissolved reaction components will almost always arise. 

It was shown in Section 1.8 that in addition to ion migration, diffusion and convection fluxes are a substantial part of mass transport during current flow through electrolyte solutions, securing a mass balance in the system. In the present chapter these processes are discussed in more detail. 

By locating the anode entirely upstream from the ionized gas volume, collection of long range beta particles is minimized in the displaced coaxial cylinder design, and the direction of gas flow minimizes diffusion and convection of electrons to the collector electrode. However, the free electrons are sufficiently mobile that modest pulse voltages (e.g., 50 V) are adequate to cause the electrons to move against the gas flow and be collected during. this time. 

In a pa(dced bad the aoblla diase flows through a tortuous channel systes and lateral eass transfer can take place by a coabination of diffusion and convection. The diffusion contribution can be approKiaated by equation (1.28)... 

Porous ceramic membrane layers are formed on top of macroporous supports, for enhanced mechanical resistance. The flow through the support may consist of contributions due to both Knudsen-diffusion and convective nonseparative flow. Supports with large pores are preferred due to their low resistance to the flow. Supports with high resistance to the flow decrease the effective pressure drop over the membrane separation layer, thus diminishing the separation efficiency of the membrane (van Vuren et al. 1987). For this reason in a membrane reactor it is more effective to place the reaction (catalytic) zone at the top layer side of the membrane while purging at the support side of the membrane. 

Other Springer model derivatives include those of Ge and Yi, ° van Bussel et al., Wohr and co-workers, and Hertwig et al. Here, the models described above are slightly modified. The model of Hertwig et al. includes both diffusive and convective transport in the membrane. It also uses a simplified two-phase flow model and shows 3-D distributions... 

There have been various models that try to incorporate both diffusive flow and convective flow in one type of membrane and using one governing transport equation. They are based somewhat on... 

Central differences are applied to diffusion problems, and upwind differences are applied to convective problems, but most cases have both diffusion and convection. This conundrum led Spaulding (1972) to develop exponential differences, which combines both central and upwind differences in an analytical solution of steady, one-dimensional convection and diffusion. Consider a control volume of length Ax, in a flow fleld of velocity U, and transporting a compound, C, at steady state with a diffusion coefficient, D. Then, the governing equation inside of the control volume is a simphflcation of Equation (2.14) ... 

Figure 3.3. Various features of diffusion and convection associated with crystal growth in solution (a) in a beaker and (b) around a crystal. The crystal is denoted by the shaded area. Shown are the diffusion boundary layer (db) the bulk diffusion (D) the convection due to thermal or gravity difference (T) Marangoni convection (M) buoyancy-driven convection (B) laminar flow, turbulent flow (F) Berg effect (be) smooth interface (S) rough interface (R) growth unit (g). The attachment and detachment of the solute (solid line) and the solvent (open line) are illustrated in (b).

Both T[f] and R[f] consist of three terms associated with the diffusion and convection induced by the external field and the macroscopic flow field. 

Concentration modulation experiments have been reported for applications to heterogeneous catalysis (48). The experimental implementation was accomplished by periodically flowing solutions with different (reactant) concentrations over the catalyst immobilized on the IRE. Fast concentration modulation in the liquid phase is limited by mass transport (diffusion and convection), and an appropriately designed cell is essential. The cell depicted in Fig. 12 has two tubes ending at the same inlet (65). This has the advantage that backmixing in the tubing upstream of the cell can be avoided. With this cell, concentration modulation periods of about 10 s were achieved (45,65). 

This technique represents the transposition of classical polyacrylamide or agarose gel electrophoresis into a capillary. Under these conditions, the electro-osmotic flow is relatively weak. In this approach, the capillary is filled with an electrolyte impregnated into a gel that minimises diffusion and convection phenomena. In contrast to its use for proteins that are fragile and thermally unstable, CGE is ideal for separating the more rugged oligonucleotides. 

Scaling arguments are used to establish the circumstances where the boundary-layer behavior is valid. These arguments, which are usually made for external flows over surfaces, may be found in many texts on fluid mechanics (e.g., [350]). The essential feature of the boundary-layer approximation is that there is a principal flow direction in which the convective effects significantly dominate the diffusive behavior. As a result the flow-wise diffusion may be neglected, while the cross-flow diffusion and convection are retained. Mathematically this reduction causes the boundary-layer equations to have essentially parabolic characteristics, whereas the Navier-Stokes equations have essentially elliptic characteristics. As a result the computational simulation of the boundary-layer equations is much simpler and more efficient. 

The problem to be solved in this paragraph is to determine the rate of spread of the chromatogram under the following conditions. The gas and liquid phases flow in the annular space between two coaxial cylinders of radii ro and r2, the interface being a cylinder with the same axis and radius rx (0 r0 < r < r2). Both phases may be in motion with linear velocity a function of radial distance from the axis, r, and the solute diffuses in both phases with a diffusion coefficient which may also be a function of r. At equilibrium the concentration of solute in the liquid, c2, is a constant multiple of that in the gas, ci(c2 = acj) and at any instant the rate of transfer across the interface is proportional to the distance from equilibrium there, i.e. the value of (c2 - aci). The dispersion of the solute is due to three processes (i) the combined effect of diffusion and convection in the gas phase, (ii) the finite rate of transfer at the interface, (iii) the combined effect of diffusion and convection in the liquid phase. In what follows the equations will often be in sets of five, labelled (a),..., (e) the differential equations expression the three processes (i), (ii) (iii) above are always (b), (c) and (d), respectively equations (a) and (e) represent the condition that there is no flow over the boundaries at r = r0 and r = r2. 

The study of rotating disk electrode behavior provides a unique opportunity to develop a model that predicts the effect of diffusion and convection on the current. This is one of the few convective systems that have simple hydrodynamic equations that may be combined with the diffusion model developed herein to produce meaningful results. The effect of diffusion is modeled exactly as it has been done previously. The effect of convection is treated by integrating an approximate velocity equation to determine the extent of convective flow during a given At interval. Matter, then, is simply transferred from volume element to volume element in accord with this result to simulate convection. The whole process repeated results in a steady-state concentration profile and a steady-state representation of the current (the Levich equation). 

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