Ministry of Higher

Education and
Scientific Research

Advanced Mass Transfer

Master Course

By
Prof. Dr. Ahmed Daham Wiheeb

2020 - 2021
Advanced Mass Transfer Master Course Prof. Dr. Ahmed Daham

Reference:
1. R. Byron Bird, Warren E. Steward & Edwin N. Lightfoot, Transport Phenomena, Second
Edition, John Wiley & Sons, Inc. 2002.

Chapter 17

Diffusivity and the Mechanisms of Mass Transport

17.1 Fick's law of binary diffusion (Molecular Mass Transport)

Consider a thin, horizontal, fused-silica plate of area A and thickness Y. Suppose
that initially (for time t < 0) both horizontal surfaces of the plate are in contact with air, which
we regard as completely insoluble in silica. At time t = 0, the air below the plate is suddenly
replaced by pure helium, which is appreciably soluble in silica. The helium slowly penetrates
into the plate by virtue of its molecular motion and ultimately appears in the gas above. This
molecular transport of one substance relative to another is known as diffusion (also known
as mass diffusion, concentration diffusion, or ordinary diffusion). The air above the plate is
being replaced rapidly, so that there is no appreciable buildup of helium there. We thus have
the situation represented in Fig. 17.1-1; this process is analogous to those described in Fig.
1.1-1 and Fig. 9.1-1 where viscosity and thermal conductivity were defined.

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Advanced Mass Transfer Master Course Prof. Dr. Ahmed Daham

In this system:
A : is the area of fused-silica plate.
Y : is the thickness of slab of fused-silica (substance B).
Helium: is the species A, which is slowly penetrates into the fused-silica plate (substance B).

𝑚𝑎𝑠𝑠 𝑜𝑓 ℎ𝑒𝑙𝑖𝑢𝑚
𝑤𝐴 = 𝑚𝑎𝑠𝑠 𝑓𝑟𝑎𝑐𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛 𝑜𝑓 𝑠𝑝𝑒𝑐𝑖𝑒𝑠 𝑨 =
𝑚𝑎𝑠𝑠 𝑜𝑓 ℎ𝑒𝑙𝑖𝑢𝑚 + 𝑚𝑎𝑠𝑠 𝑜𝑓 𝑓𝑢𝑠𝑒𝑑 𝑠𝑖𝑙𝑖𝑐𝑎
𝑚𝑎𝑠𝑠 𝑜𝑓 𝑓𝑢𝑠𝑒𝑑 𝑠𝑖𝑙𝑖𝑐𝑎
𝑤𝐵 = 𝑚𝑎𝑠𝑠 𝑓𝑟𝑎𝑐𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛 𝑜𝑓 𝑠𝑝𝑒𝑐𝑖𝑒𝑠 𝑩 =
𝑚𝑎𝑠𝑠 𝑜𝑓 ℎ𝑒𝑙𝑖𝑢𝑚 + 𝑚𝑎𝑠𝑠 𝑜𝑓 𝑓𝑢𝑠𝑒𝑑 𝑠𝑖𝑙𝑖𝑐𝑎

𝑤𝐴0 : is the solubility of helium in fused silica, expressed in mass fraction

At steady state, it is found that the mass flow WAy, of helium in the positive y direction can
be described by:

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Advanced Mass Transfer Master Course Prof. Dr. Ahmed Daham

Where:

WAy : is the mass flow rate of helium per unit area (or mass flux).
ρ: is the density of the silica-helium system.

DAB : is the diffusivity of the silica-helium system.

We now rewrite Eq. 17.1-1 for a differential element within the slab:

Where:

𝑾𝑨𝒚
𝒋𝑨𝒚 = the molecular mass flux of helium in the positive 𝐲 direction =
𝐀

Eq. 17.1-2 is the one-dimensional form of Fick's first law of diffusion. It is valid for any
binary solid, liquid, or gas solution, provided that 𝒋𝑨𝒚 is defined as the mass flux relative to
the mixture velocity 𝒗𝒚 . For the system examined in Fig. 17.1-1, the helium is moving rather
slowly and its concentration is very small, so that 𝒗𝒚 is negligibly different from zero during
the diffusion process.

In general, for a binary mixture:

The mass flux 𝒋𝑨𝒚 is then defined, in general, as:

Where:

𝝆 𝒘𝑨 = 𝝆𝑨

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Advanced Mass Transfer Master Course Prof. Dr. Ahmed Daham

If we write equations similar to Eq. 17.1-2 for the x and z directions and then combine all
three equations, we get the vector form of Fick's law:

A similar relation can be written for species B:

Thus for the pair A-B, there is just one diffusivity; in general it will be a function of
pressure, temperature, and composition.

In Tables 17.1-1,2,3, and 4 some values of DAB in cm2/s are given for a few gas, liquid,
solid, and polymeric systems. These values can be converted easily to m2/s by multiplication
by l0-4. Diffusivities of gases at low density are almost independent of 𝒘𝑨 increase with
temperature, and vary inversely with pressure. Liquid and solid diffusivities are strongly
concentration-dependent and generally increase with temperature.

For gas mixtures, the Schmidt number can range from about 0.2 to 3, as can be seen in Table
17.1-1. For liquid mixtures, values up to 40,000 have been observed.

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Advanced Mass Transfer Master Course Prof. Dr. Ahmed Daham

There are, however, other kinds of diffusion: thermal diffusion, which results from a
temperature gradient; pressure diffusion, resulting from a pressure gradient; and forced
diffusion, which is caused by unequal external forces acting on the chemical species.

Example 17.1-1: Diffusion of Helium through Pyrex Glass

Solution:

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Advanced Mass Transfer Master Course Prof. Dr. Ahmed Daham