Experiment No.

- 5(a)
MASS TRANSFER COEFFICIENT

Aim:
To determine the mass transfer coefficient for flow of air over a naphthalene
sphere.

Introduction:
Mass Transfer Coefficient controls the rate of Mass Transfer. Mass Transfer
Coefficient of a solid-gas system depends upon several factors like diffusivity of
solid into gas, velocity of gas, density of solid, viscosity of gas and characteristic
length of solid.
Mass Transfer Coefficient = f ( D, v, μ , ρ , lc )
It can be calculated by using correlation available for different flow regimes.
These correlations relate Mass Transfer Coefficient with Sherwood No.,
Reynolds No., Schmidt No. etc.

Theory:
Correlations for mass transfer from single spheres are represented as addition of
terms representing transfer by purely molecular diffusion and transfer by forced
convection, in the form
𝑆ℎ = 𝑆ℎ + 𝐶𝑅𝑒 𝑆𝑐

where C, m and n are constants, the value of n is usually taken as 1/3.

For very low Reynold’s number, the Sherwood number should approach a value
of 2. This value can be derived by theoretical consideration of molecular diffusion
from a sphere into a large volume of stagnant fluid.

Therefore the generalized equation becomes

𝑆ℎ = 2 + 𝐶𝑅𝑒 𝑆𝑐

The relation given by Froessling

/ /
𝑆ℎ = 2 + 0.6𝑅𝑒 𝑆𝑐

correlates the data for mass transfer into gases for at Reynold’s numbers ranging
from 2 to 800 and Schmidt number ranging 0.6 to 2.7.

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When a gas is allowed to flow past single sphere, the forced convection mass
transfer Kg is correlated with Sherwood Number by,

𝐾 𝑅𝑇𝑑𝑃 / /
𝑆ℎ = = 2 + 0.6𝑅𝑒 𝑆𝑐
𝑃𝐷
Here,
Sh is the Sherwood number
Re is the particle Reynolds number
Sc is Schmidt Number and
R is the Universal Gas constant
T is the temperature on the absolute scale
d is the diameter of the sphere,
P is the total pressure of diffusing gas at the interphase and bulk
PBM is the log mean pressure of air between interface and bulk
DA is the Diffusivity of Naphthalene in air.

Experimental Setup:
The contacting unit is a glass pipe about 50 mm inner diameter. In the middle of
the glass pipe there is a T-section of 12 mm of inner diameter. A naphthalene
ball is held in position at the center of the pipe by means of a stiff metal wire fitted
into a rubber cork and the cork is fitted tightly in the T-section. A blower is
provided for blowing air into this section and an orifice meter is provided to
measure the airflow rate. The bore size of the orifice meter is 25mm.

2
The equation for the orifice plate is [2]-

𝐶 𝜋
𝑄= 𝜖 𝑑 2𝜌∆𝑃
1−𝛽 4
Where-
𝑄 = Flow rate in kg/s
𝐶 = Coefficient of discharge, typically between 0.6 and 0.85
𝛽 = Ratio of orifice diameter and pipe diameter, here β = 0.5
𝜖 = Expansibility factor, 1 for incompressible gases and most liquids
𝑑 = Internal orifice diameter in m
𝜌 = Fluid density in upstream tapping in kg/m3
∆𝑃= Pressure difference across orifice plate in Pa

Requirements:
1. Naphthalene ball
2. Screw gauge
3. Weight balance

Experimental Procedure:
1. Determine the initial weight of the naphthalene ball with wire (W1).
2. Measure the initial diameter of the ball with a screw gauge (d1).
3. Place the ball along with wire at its position.
4. Start the airflow and so the stopwatch.
5. Measure the diameter, and mass of the naphthalene ball every 30
minutes.
6. Carry out the experiment till 2 hours.

Precautions:
1. Calculate the mean diameter by taking the diameter of two mutually
perpendicular surfaces of the naphthalene ball.
2. Avoid suspending the naphthalene ball way before the starting of the
timer.
3. Do not touch the outer surface of the heater.

Observations:
Initial weight of wire alone (w0) =
Initial weight of Naphthalene ball in wire (W1) =
Initial weight of Naphthalene ball alone (w1) =
Initial diameter of naphthalene ball (d1) =

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 Weight of Weight of Difference in Temperature Diameter
Time the ball the ball Manometer
with wire without wire level

Final diameter of naphthalene ball (d2) =

Final weight of naphthalene ball with wire (W2) =
Final weight of naphthalene ball alone (w2) =
Partial Pressure of Naphthalene ball =
Temperature =
Manometer reading left limb (mm) =
Manometer reading right limb (mm) =
Volumetric flow rate =

Calculations:
The mean diameter of the ball is given by
d1 + d 2
d=
2
The experimental value of the gas mass transfer coefficient Kg is given by
( w1 − w2 ) RT
kg =
π d 2t ( P1 − P ) M B

Where
P1= Vapor pressure of naphthalene
P= Partial pressure of naphthalene
MB= Molar weight of naphthalene
The vapor pressure of the naphthalene P1 in mm Hg is correlated with the
temperature T by the equation
3857
log P1 = 11.8452 −
T
Where T is in Kelvin

4
Result:
The Mass Transfer Coefficients of naphthalene ball in air by theoretical and
experimental respectively are …..

Sources of errors:
Report the possible sources of error found in the experiment and the
observations. Discuss exactly how these affect the experimental data (i.e. will
the readings be larger or will they be smaller due to the presence of a particular
source).

Discussions:
The following topics need to be discussed in detail in the report.
1. Give a physical interpretation of your results.
2. Compare your results with those obtained from theory/literature. Justify
the differences in these, if any.
3. What is the difference between diffusion coefficient and mass transfer
coefficient? Which of them depends on the other? Why do we need the
dependent parameter?
4. Give the physical significance of Sherwood number, Schmidt number and
Reynolds number. Show that the Sherwood number is 2 in the case of
diffusion from a sphere when there is no flow.
5. Briefly describe the analogy between heat transfer and mass transfer.

References:
1. Treybal, R.E, “Mass-Transfer Operations”, 3rd ed., McGraw-Hill, NY, 1981,
page 45-78, 114-123.
2. Binay K. Dutta, “Principles of Mass Transfer and Separation Processes”,
Prentice Hall of India Pvt Ltd., ND, 2007, page 74-121, 122-171.