BKF 2432: MASS TRANSFER FKKSA, UMP

CHAPTER 1
Introduction to Mass
Transfer

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BKF 2432: MASS TRANSFER FKKSA, UMP

Introduction
 Three fundamental transfer processes:
i) Momentum transfer
ii) Heat transfer
iii) Mass transfer

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 Mass transfer may occur in a gas mixture, a

liquid solution or solid.
 Mass transfer occurs whenever there is a
gradient in the concentration of a species.
 The basic mechanisms are the same whether
the phase is a gas, liquid, or solid.

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Definition of Concentration
i) Number of molecules of each species
present per unit volume (molecules/m3)

ii) Molar concentration of species i = Number

of moles of i per unit volume (kmol/m3)

iii) Mass concentration = Mass of i per unit

volume (kg/m3)

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BKF 2432: MASS TRANSFER FKKSA, UMP

Diffusion phenomena
 Fick’s law: linear relation between the rate of
diffusion of chemical species and the
concentration gradient of that species.
 Thermal diffusion: Diffusion due to a
temperature gradient. Usually negligible
unless the temperature gradient is very large.
 Pressure diffusion: Diffusion due to a
pressure gradient. Usually negligible unless
the pressure gradient is very large.
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 Forced diffusion: Diffusion due to external

force field acting on a molecule. Forced
diffusion occurs when an electrical field is
imposed on an electrolyte ( for example, in
charging an automobile battery)
 Knudsen diffusion: Diffusion phenomena
occur in porous solids.

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 Whenever there is concentration difference in a medium,

nature tends to equalize
things by forcing a flow
from the high to the low
concentration region.
Before After

 The molecular transport process of mass is characterized by

the general equation:

Rate of transfer process = driving force

resistance

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 BKF 2432: MASS TRANSFER FKKSA, UMP

Example of Mass Transfer Processes

 Consider a tank that is divided into two equal
parts by a partition.
 Initially, the left half of the tank contains
nitrogen N2 gas while the right half contains O2
at the same temperature and pressure.
 When the partition is removed the N2
molecules will start diffusing into the air while
the O2 molecules diffuse into the N2.
 If we wait long enough, we will have a
homogeneous mixture of N2 and O2 in the
tank.
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BKF 2432: MASS TRANSFER FKKSA, UMP

 Liquid in open pail of water evaporates into

air because of the difference in concentration
of water vapor at the water surface and the
surrounding air.
 A drop of blue liquid dye is added to a cup of
water. The dye molecules will diffuse slowly
by molecular diffusion to all parts of the
water.

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BKF 2432: MASS TRANSFER FKKSA, UMP

Molecular Diffusion Equation

 Fick’s Law dc A
J *
AZ   DAB
dz
J *A is the molar flux of component A in the z
direction in kg mol A/s.m2.

D AB is the molecular diffusivity of the molecule A in

B in m2/s
c A is the concentration of A in kg mol/m3.
z is the distance of diffusion in m

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BKF 2432: MASS TRANSFER FKKSA, UMP

Fick’s Law of Diffusion

 Molecular diffusion or molecular transport can be defined as the
transfer or movement of individual molecules through a fluid by
mean of the random, individual movements of the molecules.
(2) A

B B B

B B
B
B
B
B B

(1) A
Figure 3: Schematic diagram of molecular diffusion process

 If there are greater number of A molecules near point (1) than at

(2), then since molecules diffuse randomly in both direction, more
A molecules will diffuse from (1) to (2) than from (2) to (1).
 The net diffusion of A is from high to low concentration regions.
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 The two modes of mass transfer:

- Molecular diffusion
- Convective mass transfer

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BKF 2432: MASS TRANSFER FKKSA, UMP

Molecular diffusion
The diffusion of molecules when the whole bulk
fluid is not moving but stationary. Diffusion of
molecules is due to a concentration gradient.

The general Fick’s Law Equation for binary mixture of A and B

dx A
J *
AZ  cDAB
dz
c = total concentration of A and B [kgmol (A + B)/m3]
xA= mole fraction of A in the mixture of A and B

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BKF 2432: MASS TRANSFER FKKSA, UMP

Example
A mixture of He and N2 gas is contained in a
pipe at 298 K and 1 atm total pressure which
is constant throughout. At one end of the pipe
at point 1 the partial pressure pA1 of He is 0.6
atm and at the other end 0.2 m pA2 = 0.2 atm.
Calculate the flux of He at steady state if DAB
of the He-N2 mixture is 0.687 x 10-4 m2/s.

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Convection Mass Transfer

 When a fluid flowing outside a solid surface in forced convection motion, rate of
convective mass transfer is given by:

N A  k c (c L1  c Li )
kc - mass transfer coefficient (m/s)
cL1 - bulk fluid conc.
cLi - conc of fluid near the solid surface

 Kc depend on:
1. system geometry
2. Fluid properties
3. Flow velocity

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