Mass transfer, through stagnant film

This leads to rate equations with constant mass transfer coefficients, whereas the effect of net transport through the film is reflected separately in thej/gj and Y factors. For unidirectional mass transfer through a stagnant gas the rate equation becomes... 

In most common separation processes, the main mass transfer is across an interface between a gas and a liquid or between two liquid phases. At fluid-fluid interfaces, turbulence may persist to the interface. A simple theoretical model for turbulent mass transfer to or from a fluid-phase boundary was suggested in 1904 by Nernst, who postulated that the entire resistance to mass transfer in a given turbulent phase lies in a thin, stagnant region of that phase at the interface, called a him, hence the name film theory.2 4,5 Other, more detailed, theories for describing the mass transfer through a fluid-fluid interface exist, such as the penetration theory.1,4... 

Starting with the material balance equation, develop the expression for the impedance response for mass transfer through a stagnant film. 

Equation (14.65) for the composition gradient in mass transfer through a stagnant film of thickness t may be derived with the aid of Fig. 14.6. At a distance tj into the film, where the atom fraction of light component is Xf, the required net transport of Gv mol of light component per unit area per second is the resultant of that due to flow, Gxf, and that due to diffusion ... 

There are several types of situations covered by Eq, (21.16). The simplest case is zero convective flow and equimolal counterdiffusion of A and B, as occurs in the diffusive mixing of two gases. This is also the case for the diffusion of A and B in the vapor phase for distillations that have constant molal overflow. The second common case is the diffusion of only one component of the mixture, where the convective flow is caused by the diffusion of that component. Examples include evaporation of a liquid with diffusion of the vapor from the interface into a gas stream and condensation of a vapor in the presence of a noncondensable gas. Many examples of gas absorption also involve diffusion of only one component, which creates a convective flow toward the interface. These two types of mass transfer in gases are treated in the following sections for the simple case of steady-state mass transfer through a stagnant gas layer or film of known thickness. The effects of transient diffusion and laminar or turbulent flow are taken up later. 

The term /Ky can be considered an overall resistance to mass transfer, and the terms m//c, and l/ky are the resistances in the liquid and gas films. These films need not be stagnant layers of a certain thickness in order for the two-film theory to apply. Mass transfer in either film may be by diffusion through a laminar... 

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 ... 

First, we must consider a gas-liquid system separated by an interface. When the thermodynamic equilibrium concentration is not reached for a transferable solute A in the gas phase, a concentration gradient is established between the two phases, and this will create a mass transfer flow of A from the gas phase to the liquid phase. This is described by the two-film model proposed by W. G. Whitman, where interphase mass transfer is ensured by diffusion of the solute through two stagnant layers of thickness <5G and <5L on both sides of the interface (Fig. 45.1) [1—4]. 

The two-film theory considering molecular diffusion through stagnant liquid and gas films is the traditional way of understanding mass transfer across the air-water boundary. As briefly described, other theories exist. However, the two-film theory gives an understanding of fundamental phenomena that may lead to simple empirical expressions for use in practice. 

Mass transfer is usually limited by diffusion through the stagnant liquid film because of the low liquid diflusivities. 

DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSIONS In this study a general applicable model has been developed which can predict mass and heat transfer fluxes through a vapour/gas-liquid interface in case a chemical reaction occurs in the liquid phase. In this model the Maxwell-Stefan theory has been used to describe the transport of mass and heat. A film model has been adopted which postulates the existence of a well-mixed bulk and stagnant zones where the principal mass and heat transfer resistances are situated. Due to the mathematical complexity the equations have been solved numerically by a finite-difference technique. In this paper (Part I) the Maxwell-Stefan theory has been compared with the classical theory due to Pick for isothermal absorption of a pure gas A in a solvent containing component B. Component A is allowed to react by a unimolecular chemical reaction or by a bimolecular chemical reaction with... 

In catalytic reactions mass transfer from the fluid phase to the active phase inside the porous catalyst particle takes place via transport through a fictitious stagnant fluid film surrounding the particle and via diffusion inside the particle. Heat transport to or from the catalyst takes the same route. These phenomena are summarized in Fig. 8.15. 

The sources of band broadening of kinetic origin include molecular diffusion, eddy diffusion, mass transfer resistances, and the finite rate of the kinetics of ad-sorption/desorption. In turn, the mass transfer resistances can be sorted out into several different contributions. First, the film mass transfer resistance takes place at the interface separating the stream of mobile phase percolating through the column bed and the mobile phase stagnant inside the pores of the particles. Second, the internal mass transfer resistance controls the rate of mass transfer between this interface and the adsorbent surface. It is composed of two contributions, the pore diffusion, which is molecular diffusion taking place in the tortuous, constricted network of pores, and surface diffusion, which takes place in the electric field at the liquid-solid interface [60]. All these mass transfer resistances, except the kinetics of adsorption-desorption, depend on the molecular diffusivity. Thus, it is important to study diffusion in bulk liquids and in porous media. 

The film theory is the simplest model for interfacial mass transfer. In this case it is assumed that a stagnant film exists near the interface and that all resistance to the mass transfer resides in this film. The concentration differences occur in this film region only, whereas the rest of the bulk phase is perfectly mixed. The concentration at the depth I from the interface is equal to the bulk concentration. The mass transfer flux is thus assumed to be caused by molecular diffusion through a stagnant film essentially in the direction normal to the interface. It is further assumed that the interface has reached a state of thermodynamic equilibrium. 

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