Mass concentration transfer coefficient

Film Theory. Many theories have been put forth to explain and correlate experimentally measured mass transfer coefficients. The classical model has been the film theory (13,26) that proposes to approximate the real situation at the interface by hypothetical "effective" gas and Hquid films. The fluid is assumed to be essentially stagnant within these effective films making a sharp change to totally turbulent flow where the film is in contact with the bulk of the fluid. As a result, mass is transferred through the effective films only by steady-state molecular diffusion and it is possible to compute the concentration profile through the films by integrating Fick s law ... 

Rate Equations with Concentration-Independent Mass Transfer Coefficients. Except for equimolar counterdiffusion, the mass transfer coefficients appHcable to the various situations apparently depend on concentration through thej/g and factors. Instead of the classical rate equations 4 and 5, containing variable mass transfer coefficients, the rate of mass transfer can be expressed in terms of the constant coefficients for equimolar counterdiffusion using the relationships... 

Equation 28 and its liquid-phase equivalent are very general and valid in all situations. Similarly, the overall mass transfer coefficients may be made independent of the effect of bulk fiux through the films and thus nearly concentration independent for straight equilibrium lines ... 

Rate equations 28 and 30 combine the advantages of concentration-independent mass transfer coefficients, even in situations of multicomponent diffusion, and a familiar mathematical form involving concentration driving forces. The main inconvenience is the use of an effective diffusivity which may itself depend somewhat on the mixture composition and in certain cases even on the diffusion rates. This advantage can be eliminated by working with a different form of the MaxweU-Stefan equation (30—32). One thus obtains a set of rate equations of an unconventional form having concentration-independent mass transfer coefficients that are defined for each binary pair directiy based on the MaxweU-Stefan diffusivities. 

The rate of mass transfer,/, is then assumed to be proportional to the concentration differences existing within each phase, the surface area between the phases,, and a coefficient (the gas or Hquid film mass transfer coefficient, k or respectively) which relates the three. Thus... 

The value of the saturation concentration,, is the spatial average of the value determined from a clean water performance test and is not corrected for gas-side oxygen depletion therefore K ji is an apparent value because it is determined on the basis of an uncorrected. A tme volumetric mass transfer coefficient can be evaluated by correcting for the gas-side oxygen depletion. However, for design purposes, can be estimated from the surface saturation concentration and effective saturation depth by... 

R is rate of reaction per unit area, a is interfacial area per unit volume, S is solubiHty of solute in continuous phase, D is diffusivity of solute, k is rate constant, kj is mass-transfer coefficient, is concentration of reactive species, and Z is stoichiometric coefficient. When Dk is considerably greater (10 times) than Ra = aS Dk. 

The drying rate is represented by differential equation (eq. 6) where h is mass transfer coefficient 1/(hcm ) , specific surface area of desiccant beads, cm /g mass of desiccant, g C, concentration by weight of water in the fluid being dried (7, concentration of water at the surface of the desiccant, ie, concentration of water in the fluid that would be in equihbrium with the instantaneous loading on the desiccant, wt-ppm and t — time, h. 

Ko Overall gas-pbase mass-transfer coefficient for concentrated systems kmoP(s-m ) lbmol/(h-fF)... 

Mutual Diffusivity, Mass Diffusivity, Interdiffusion Coefficient Diffusivity is denoted by D g and is defined by Tick s first law as the ratio of the flux to the concentration gradient, as in Eq. (5-181). It is analogous to the thermal diffusivity in Fourier s law and to the kinematic viscosity in Newton s law. These analogies are flawed because both heat and momentum are conveniently defined with respec t to fixed coordinates, irrespective of the direction of transfer or its magnitude, while mass diffusivity most commonly requires information about bulk motion of the medium in which diffusion occurs. For hquids, it is common to refer to the hmit of infinite dilution of A in B using the symbol, D°g. 

Mass-Transfer Coefficient Denoted by /c, K, and so on, the mass-transfer coefficient is the ratio of the flux to a concentration (or composition) difference. These coefficients generally represent rates of transfer that are much greater than those that occur by diffusion alone, as a result of convection or turbulence at the interface where mass transfer occurs. There exist several principles that relate that coefficient to the diffusivity and other fluid properties and to the intensity of motion and geometry. Examples that are outlined later are the film theoiy, the surface renewal theoiy, and the penetration the-oiy, all of which pertain to ideahzed cases. For many situations of practical interest like investigating the flow inside tubes and over flat surfaces as well as measuring external flowthrough banks of tubes, in fixed beds of particles, and the like, correlations have been developed that follow the same forms as the above theories. Examples of these are provided in the subsequent section on mass-transfer coefficient correlations. 

Tbe mass-transfer coefficients k c and /cf by definition are equal to tbe ratios of tbe molal mass flux Na to tbe concentration driving forces p — Pi) and (Ci — c) respectively. An alternative expression for tbe rate of transfer in dilute systems is given by... 

Experimentally observed rates of mass transfer often are expressed in terms of overall transfer coefficients even when the eqmlibrium lines are curved. This procedure is empirical, since the theory indicates that in such cases the rates of transfer may not vary in direct proportion to the overall bulk concentration differences y — y°) and (x° — x) at all concentration levels even though the rates may be proportional to the concentration difference in each phase taken separately, i.e., Xi — x) and y — y ). 

The overall gas-phase and hquid-phase mass-transfer coefficients for concentrated systems are computed according to the following equations ... 

Kl Xbm /cl x bm kc y yt When the equilibrium cui ve is a straight line, the terms in parentheses can be replaced by the slope m as before. In this case the overall mass-transfer coefficients for concentrated systems are related to each other by the equation... 

Mass-transfer coefficients are derived from models. They must be employed in a similar model. For example, if an arithmetic concentration difference was used to determine k, that k should only be used in a mass-transfer expression with an arithmetic concentration difference. 

The unknown intermediate concentration C, has been mathematically ehminated from the last term. In this case, r can be solved for explicitly, but that is not always possible with surface rate equations of greater complexity. The mass transfer coefficient /ci is usually obtainable from correlations. When the experimental data are of (C, r) the other constants can be found by linear plotting. 

FIG. 17-14 Biihhling-hed model of Kunii and Levenspiel. dy = effective hiih-ble diameter, = concentration of A in hiihhle, = concentration of A in cloud, = concentration of A in emulsion, y = volumetric gas flow into or out of hiihhle, ky,- = mass-transfer coefficient between bubble and cloud, and k,. = mass-transfer coefficient between cloud and emulsion. (From Kunii and Leoen-spiel, Fluidization Engineering, Wiley, New York, 1.96.9, and Ktieger, Malahar, Fla., 1977.)... 

Ga.s-Lic(uid Ma.s.s Tran.sfer Gas-liqiiid mass transfer norrnallv is correlated bv means of the mass-transfer coefficient K a ersiis powder le el at arioiis superficial gas elocities. The superficial gas clocitv is the ohirne of gas at the a erage temperature and pressure at the midpoint in the tank di ided bv the area of the essel. In order to obtain the partial-pressure dri ing force, an assumption must be made of the partial pressure in equilibrium wdth the concentration of gas in the liquid, Manv times this must be assumed, but if Fig, 18-26 is obtained in the pilot plant and the same assumption principle is used in e ahiating the mixer in the full-scale tank, the error from the assumption is limited. 

FIG. 18-28 Usually, the gas-liquid mass-transfer coefficient, K, is reduced with increased viscosity. This shows the effect of increased concentration of microbial cells in a fermentation process. 

Since D/6 is the mass-transfer coefficient. For the portion of the operating cui ve in which flux is invariant, the wall concentration is apparently invariant. The mechanism governing why and how that occurs is the subject of a continuing debate in the hterature. 

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