Subject: 19CHE302 Principles of Mass Transfer

Class : V semester B. Tech Chemical Engineering

Course Instructor: Dr. Nithya. K
Textbooks
TEXT BOOK:
• R.E. Treybal, Mass Transfer Operations, 3rdEdn. McGraw-
Hill 1981.
• Binay K. Dutta, Principles of Mass Transfer and
Separation Processes, PHI Learning Private Ltd, 2013
REFERENCES:
• J.D. Seader, Ernest J. Henley, Separation Process
Principles, 2nd Edition, Wiley India, 2011
• Coulson, J.M. and Richardson, J.F. Chemical Engineering
Vol. II, 4thEdn., Asian Books Pvt. Ltd. India. 1998.
• McCabe, W.L. Smith, J.C. and Harriot, P. “Unit Operations
in Chemical Engineering, 6thEdn, McGraw – Hill Edn,
2001.
List of Learning Materials
• E copy R.E. Treybal, Mass Transfer Operations, 3rdEdn. McGraw-Hill
1981.
• E copy Binay K. Dutta, Principles of Mass Transfer and Separation
Processes, PHI Learning Private Ltd, 2013
• https://nptel.ac.in/courses/103/103/103103145/
 MASS TRANSFER
• Mass transfer is the net movement of mass from one
location, usually meaning a stream, phase, fraction or
component, to another.
• Mass transfer can also be defined based on the chemical
potential gradient
• Mass transfer occurs in many processes, such as
absorption, evaporation, adsorption, drying, precipitation,
membrane filtration and distillation
• Some common examples
Lump of sugar added to tea dissolves and diffuses
uniformly
Drying of clothes under sun where moisture diffuses
through air
Evaporation of water from a pond to atmosphere
Mechanism
Molecular mass transfer
Random and spontaneous microscopic movement of
individual molecules in a gas, liquid or a solid. It occurs
by virtue of thermal energy of molecules
Gases- 10cm/min, liquids – 0.05 cm/min, solids-
0.00001cm/min
Convective mass transfer (eddy or turbulent)
This occurs by random macroscopic fluid motion
Diffusion
Mass Transfer Operations
• Gas – Liquid System ( Absorption, Distillation)
• Gas – Solid system ( Drying, Adsorption)
• Liquid – Liquid system (extraction)
• Liquid – Solid system (Leaching, Crystallization)
• Solid – Solid system
Gas – Liquid System
• In absorption (also called gas absorption, gas
scrubbing, or gas washing), there is a transfer of
one or more species from the gas phase to a liquid
solvent. The species transferred to the liquid phase
are referred to as solutes or absorbate. 
• The gaseous component is said to be absorbed by
the liquid. The transferred component is known as
the solute.
• As an illustration, consider an ammonia-air-
water system. The gas contains ammonia-air
mixture. Ammonia is the solute and it is very
soluble in water while air is not. Hence, by means of
contacting the gas mixture with water, ammonia will
dissolves preferentially in water, and a solution of
ammonia in water (ammonium hydroxide) is
obtained.
Gas – Liquid System
• Distillation - involves the transfer of species between vapor and
liquid phases, exploiting differences in volatility among the species
• Examples of uses of distillation include purification of alcohol,
desalination, crude oil refining, production of gasoline, distilled
water, xylene, alcohol, paraffin, kerosene etc.,
Gas – Solid system
Gas – Solid system

• Adsorption involve contacting a vapor or liquid

feed with a solid agent, as shown
• Most commonly, the agent consists of particles
that are porous to achieve a high surface area,
and differences in species adsorbability are
exploited.

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Liquid – Liquid system
Extraction
Liquid – Liquid system
Extraction
• Extraction involves the net transfer of one or more species from one
liquid into another liquid phase, generally from aqueous to organic
• From a hydrometallurgical perspective, solvent extraction is exclusively used in
separation and purification of uranium and plutonium, zirconium and
hafnium, separation of cobalt and nickel, separation and purification of rare
earth elements etc.,
Liquid – Solid system
Leaching
Liquid – Solid system
• Crystallization is defined as a process by which a chemical is
converted from a liquid solution into a solid crystalline
state. The different stages are supersaturation, nucleation and
crystal growth
• transfer of a solute from the liquid solution to a pure solid
crystalline phase occurs.
• Crystal formation can be achieved by various methods, such as:
cooling, evaporation, addition of a second solvent to reduce
the solubility of the solute
• In particular, the pharmaceutical and food sectors are utilizing
crystallization for optimized separation, purification, and solid
form selection