CL 319 [S1] Homework 1 Due date: 11-Aug-2022

Fundamentals of Interfacial Mass Transfer

1. Write the driving forces for the following cases for interfacial mass transfer. Also, define the
terms in the driving force. Working need not be shown.

System and direction of mass transfer Driving force

Gas to liquid

Liquid to gas

Solid to gas

Solid to liquid

2. Calculate the driving forces for the following cases and write the values for them with correct
units. Working need not be shown. Note: some information needed for calculations is to be
obtained from relevant sources.

System Driving force

Sugar crystals dissolving in water when it is

In units of g/cc:
50 % saturated with sugar

Oxygen dissolving in water from air under

ambient conditions when water is 75 % In units of mol/litre:
saturated with oxygen

Water evaporating from a wet cloth hung for

In units of mm Hg:
drying at 28 oC and 90 % relative humidity

A small disk of benzoic acid is kept in a room

at 25 oC. Benzoic acid sublimates into air in In units of Pascal (Pa):
the room.
 A small amount of toluene spilled on the floor
of a room at 35 oC. The spilled toluene In units of bar:
evaporates into the room air.

3. Write the interfacial area for mass transfer for the below cases. Working need not be shown.

System Interfacial area (cm2)

1. A 1-cm oxygen bubble rising up in water

2. A 1.5-cm sugar cube suspended in water

3. 50 % of a vessel is filled with water containing

oxygen. Oxygen hold-up is 30 %. That is, the
ratio of volume of oxygen to the total fluid volume
is 0.3. Vessel diameter = 23.3 cm, its height =
46.6 cm, average diameter of oxygen bubble in
water = 5 mm.

4. A cylinder is filled with packing whose interfacial

area is reported by the manufacturer as 3
cm2/cm3. The diameter of the cylinder is 50 cm
and its height is 2.5 m. 90 % of the cylinder is
filled with the packing material.

4. The mass transfer coefficient for dissolution of oxygen in water from air is 1.8 x 10-3 cm/s.
Calculate the mass transfer flux of oxygen at the instant air is brought into contact with water.
Henry’s law constant for oxygen is 43,000 atm. Show your working. Report your answer in
mol/(cm2 sec)

5. The gas phase mass transfer coefficient of ammonia to a catalyst surface is 2.3 cm/s. Ammonia
transfers from the bulk to the surface of catalyst where it reacts instantaneously. That is, the
concentration of ammonia on the catalyst surface is zero. What is the mass transfer flux of
ammonia if gas contains 10 % (vol/vol) ammonia, pressure is 5 atm and temperature is 900 oC.
Show your working.

6. A 1-cm diameter disk of benzoic acid in placed in 100-cc of water and stirred. Calculate the
time required, in hours, to reach 50 % saturation if the mass transfer coefficient is 1.5 x 10-3
cm/sec. After very long time, benzoic acid concentration in water is 3.4 x 10-3 g/cc. Adopted
from Cussler’s text book.

7. Pure oxygen is being bubbled into a tank containing 5 litres of water. Average diameter of the
bubbles in water is 4 mm. Experiments indicate that the total bubble volume is 1.5 litres.
Experimental measurements of oxygen concentration in the water are tabulated below. Find the
volumetric mass transfer coefficient, 𝑘𝑎, in units of sec-1. 𝑎 is interfacial area, cm2 per cm3 of
water volume. Show your working. Use MS Excel for fitting purposes.

Time, min 0 1 2 3 5 10 20 40 Long time

Concentration, ppm 0 0.7 1.3 1.6 2.6 4.8 7.5 9.7 10