GAZI UNIVERSITY

CHEMICAL ENGINEERING DEPARTMENT

CHE343 POROUS MATERIALS

DIFFUSION in POROUS MATERIALS

Prof.Dr.Nuray OKTAR
Diffusion and Fick’s Law
• Fick’s Law states that  the movement of particles (diffusion flux) from a region of
high concentration to a low concentration region is directly proportional to the
magnitude of the concentration gradient of the substance.

• Rate of diffusion independent of

time
Diffusion Coefficient for Gases (Molecular
Diffusion)
• Diffusion coefficient experimentally found for two component gases
Diffusion Coefficient for Gases (Molecular
Diffusion)
• Chapman–Enskog equation gives a good estimation of binary diffusivity
of gases. 
Example;
Diffusion Coefficient for Liquids
• Wilke-Chang equation is generally used for determination of diffusion
coefficient of liquids.
Example;
Diffusion Coefficient for Solids (Porous Materials)
• Diffusion of the reactant or product component in the porous solid is the most important step
of chemical reactions.

• Three type of diffusion occurs in porous materials;

• Molecular Diffusion,
• Knudsen Diffusion,
• Surface Diffusion.
Knudsen Diffusion
• Mean free path is the average distance traveled by a moving particle between
collisions, which modifies its direction or energy or other particle properties.

• Knudsen diffusion in porous solid: When the • In a straight cylindrical pore of diameter d
molecular mean free path is much larger and length L, the Knudsen diffusivity, DK,A,
is given by
than the diameter of the pore in which the
diffusing molecules reside, the molecules
collide with the wall rather than colliding
with other molecules.
 Knudsen Diffusion
Example;
Knudsen Diffusion
• The flux equation for Knudsen diffusion in a pore is

integrating between z1 = 0, pA = pA1 and z2 = L, pA = pA2,

The diffusion of A for Knudsen diffusion is completely independent of B, since A collides with
the walls of the pore and not with B. A similar equation can be written for component B.
Knudsen Diffusion
Effect of Temperature and Pressure on
Molecular and Knudsen Diffusion
• r/ λ < 0.1 Knudsen Diffusion DKA DAB

Temperature (T) T0.5 T1.5-2

• r/ λ > 10 Molecular Diffusion
Pressure (P) - P-1

• 0.1<r/ λ < 10 Molecular Diffusion + Radius (r) r -

Knudsen Diffusion
Molecular Diffusion

• When the mean free path λ is small compared to the pore diameter d or where r/ λ > 10 , molecule-
molecule collisions predominate.

• The equation for molecular diffusion (derived from Fick’s Law) is,

• A flux ratio factor α can be defined as

• Combining these equation and integrating for a path length of L cm,

• The molecular diffusivity DAB is inversely proportional to the total pressure P.

Transition-Region Diffusion of Gases

• When the mean free path λ and pore diameter are intermediate in size between the two limits
given for Knudsen and molecular diffusion, transition-type diffusion occurs, where molecule–
molecule and molecule wall collisions are important in diffusion
Transition-Region Diffusion of Gases
• The transition-region diffusion equation can be derived by adding the momentum loss due to molecule–wall collisions in the
equation for Knudsen diffusion and that is due to molecule–molecule collisions in the equation for molecular diffusion
on a slice of capillary. No chemical reactions are occurring. The final differential equation is,

• where

• This transition region diffusivity DNA depends slightly on concentration xA.

• Integrating the final equation (NA)

Transition-Region Diffusion of Gases
• If A is diffusing in a catalytic pore and reacts at the surface at the pore’s end so that A → B, then
at steady state, equimolar counterdiffusion occurs. Then, NA = –NB and α (flux ratio) = 1 – 1 = 0.

• The transition-region diffusivity DNA becomes

• The diffusivity is then independent of concentration and is constant. Integration of flux equation
of transition-region then gives
Transition-Region Diffusion of Gases
• If diffusion in porous solids or channels with no chemical reaction is
occurring where the total pressure P remains constant, then for an
open binary counterdiffusing system, the ratio of NA/NB is constant in
all of the three diffusion regimes and is

Hence,
Transition-Region Diffusion of Gases
Example;
Effective Diffusion Coefficent
• In actual diffusion in porous solids, the pores are not straight and cylindrical but irregular. Hence, the
equations for diffusion in pores must be modified somewhat for actual porous solids. The problem is
further complicated by the fact that the pore diameters vary and the Knudsen diffusivity is a function
of pore diameter.

• As a result of these complications, investigators often measure effective diffusivities DAeff in porous
media, where
Determination of Effective Diffusion Coefficent
• Steady State Method
A Wicke-Kallenbach diffusion cell employs a technique that is traditionally
used to measure the diffusion rates of gases. Two gasses with different
compositions flow through a cylinder, each on a different side of a
separating membrane. The membrane may be a porous ceramic surface,
allowing the two streams to interact. The compositions of the streams
leaving the setup after flowing over the membrane are measured and
compared to the input concentrations. The diffusion rate of each component
through the separation membrane is then calculated.
Determination of Effective Diffusion Coefficent
Dynamic Method
• This method based on the sending the gas to the pellet catalyst in the form of
pulses. The concentration of the gases (pulse stream) is determined by detector.

• The advantage of this method is that a lot of parameters could be determined

with using less gas comparing with steady-state method.

Schematic of Dynamic Method