Chapter 3

Example 3.1-3 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Calculate the mass transfer from a sphere of naphthalene to air at 45oC and 1 atm abs flowing
at a velocity of 0.305 m/s. The diameter of the sphere is 25.4 mm. The diffusivity of
naphthalene in air at 45oC is 6.9210-6 m2/s and the vapor pressure of solid naphthalene is
0.555 mmHg. The mass transfer coefficient may be obtained from the following correlation:

ShD = 2 + 0.552Re0.53Sc1/3
(Ref: Transport Processes and Separation Process by C.J. Geankoplis, Prentice Hall, 4th Edition, 2003)
Solution ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Let A denote naphthalene and B denote air. Since the mole fraction of naphthalene is very
small, the physical properties of air at 45oC and 1 atm will be used for the gas mixture.

= B = 1.9310-5 Pa.s, = B = 1.113 kg/m3

We now evaluate the dimensionless numbers:

1.93 105
Sc = = = 2.506
DAB (1.113)(6.92 106 )

VD (1.113)(0.0254)(0.305)
Re = = = 446.8
1.93 10 5

kc D
ShD = 2 + 0.552Re0.53Sc1/3 = 21 =
DAB

(21)(6.92 10 6 )
kc = = 5.7210-3 m/s
0.0254

kc kc
NA = (cAi cA) = (pAi pA)
(1 y A )lm (1 y A )lm RT

(1 y A ) (1 y Ai )
(1 yA)lm = 1
1 yA
ln
1 y Ai

5.72 103 0.555 1.013 105

NA = 0 = 1.6010-7 kmol/m2s
(8314)(318) 760

The mass transfer rate from the sphere is then

WA = D2NA = (0.0254)2(1.6010-7) = 3.2410-10 kmol/s

3-5
Example 3.1-4 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------
An experiment can be performed to determine the mass transfer coefficient by flowing pure
water through a tube constructed of solid benzoic acid. The saturated concentration of
benzoic acid is 2.010-2 g/cm3. The water velocity is 10 cm/s and the mass of the tube is
reduced by 0.62 g after 3 hr. Determine the mass transfer coefficient for the dissolution of
benzoic acid in water if the tube diameter is 1.0 cm and the tube length is 20 cm.
Solution ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

V V

Making a material balance of benzoic acid over the control volume D2x/4 we have

D2 D2
CV CV + kc(C* C)Dx = 0 (E-1)
4 x
4 x +x

In this expression, C is the bulk concentration of benzoic acid in water within the tube and
C* is the saturated benzoic acid concentration in water at the solid and liquid interface. kc is
the mass transfer coefficient for the dissolution of benzoic acid in water. Dividing equation
(E-1) by D2x/4 gives

C | C |x 4
V x +x + kc(C* C) =0 (E-2)
x D

Taking the limit as x 0, we have

dC 4
V + kc(C* C) =0
dx D

Separating the variables and integrating to obtain

CL dC 4k c L
0 C* C
=
DV 0
dx

C * CL 4k c L 4kc
ln = => CL = C* 1 exp DV L
C* DV

The mass transfer rate to the water is then

D2 D2
W = V ( CL 0) = V CL
4 4

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The mass change of the tube during the time t is given by

D2 4k
m = Wt = V tC* 1 exp c L
4 DV

For x << 1, exp( x) 1 x, therefore

D2 4k L
m = V tC* c = DL tC*kc
4 DV

The mass transfer coefficient is evaluated

m 0.62
kc = = = 4.5710-5 cm/s
DLtC * (1)(20)(3 3600)(0.02)

4kc L
Now we need to check the condition that x = << 1
DV

4kc L (4 4.57 105 )(20)

= = 3.6510-4 << 1
DV (1)(10)

Example 3.1-5 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Liquid water at 25oC is to be aerated in a bubble column where finely air bubbles with
diameter dB of 0.5 mm are injected cocurrently with the liquid. The interfacial contact area,
a, between air and water can be calculated from the expression a = 6/dB, where is the
volume fraction of the injected air. The bubble column is 1.8 m high with a superficial liquid
velocity of 0.2 m/s. The oxygen concentration of the inlet water is 0.1210-4 kmol/m3. The
saturated oxygen concentration is 2.6710-4 kmol/m3. Determine the oxygen concentration of
the outlet water if the mass transfer coefficient for the transfer of oxygen from the liquid
interface to the bulk water is 5.810-6 m/s. The diffusivity of oxygen in water is 2.4210-9
m2/s. The volume fraction of the injected air is 0.2.
Solution ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Making a steady state material balance for dissolved oxygen in water we have

CVA|x CVA|x+x + (1 )A N A x (1 )A N A x +x + kc(C* C)aAx = 0

In this expression, C is the bulk concentration of oxygen in water, C* is the saturated oxygen
concentration, A is the cross sectional area of the bubble column, V is the superficial liquid
velocity, NA is the molar flux of oxygen in the x direction, and kc is the mass transfer
coefficient. Dividing this equation by Ax and taking the limit as x 0 we obtain

dN A dC
(1 ) V + kc(C* C)a = 0 (E-1)
dx dx

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 dC
Substituting NA = DAB into equation (E-1) we have
dx

d 2C dC
(1 )DAB 2
V + kc(C* C)a = 0 (E-2)
dx dx

d 2C
The mass transfer contribution by axial diffusion, DAB , is usually much smaller than the
dx 2
other terms. If we neglect the axial diffusion, equation (E-2) becomes

dC
V + kc(C* C)a = 0
dx

Separating the variables and integrating to obtain

CL dC ak L
C0 C* C
= c
V 0
dx

C * CL ak c L ak
ln = => CL = C* (C* C0) exp c L
C * C0 V V

akc 6 kc L (6)(0.2)(5.8 106 )(1.8)

We have L= = = 0.1253
V d BV (0.5 103 )(0.2)

CL = 2.6710-4 (2.67 0.12)10-4exp( 0.1253) = 0.4210-4 kmol/m3

3-8
3.2 Packed Column

Packed towers can be used for continuous countercurrent contacting of gas and liquid in
absorption and for vapor-liquid contacting in distillation. In a packed column used for gas-
liquid contact, the liquid flows downward over the surface of the packing and the gas flows
upward in the void space of the packing material. A low pressure drop and, hence, low
energy consumption is very important in the performance of packed towers. The packing
material provides a very large surface area for mass transfer, but it also results in a pressure
drop because of friction. The performance of packed towers depends upon the hydraulic
operating characteristics of wet and dry packing. In dry packing, there is only the flow of a
single fluid phase through a column of stationary solid particles. Such flow occurs in fixed-
bed catalytic reactor and sorption operations (including adsorption, ion exchange, ion
exclusion, etc.) In wet packing, two-phase flow is encountered. The phases will be a gas and
a liquid in distillation, absorption, or stripping. When the liquid flows over the packing it
occupies some of the void volume in the packing normally filled by the gas, therefore the
performance of wet packing is different from that of dry packing.

For dry packing, the pressure drop may be correlated by Ergun equation

P Dp gc 3 1
= 150 + 1.75 (3.2-1)
h f v s 1 N Re

where
P = pressure drop through the packed bed
h = bed height
Dp = particle diameter
f = fluid density
vs = superficial velocity at a density averaged between inlet and outlet conditions
= bed porosity
D v
NRe = average Reynolds number based upon superficial velocity p s f When the

packing has a shape different from spherical, an effective particle diameter is defined

6V p 6(1 )
Dp = = (3.2-2)
Ap As
where
As = interfacial area of packing per unit of packing volume, ft2/ft3 or m2/m3

The effective particle diameter Dp in Eq. (3.2-1) can be replaced by sDp where Dp now
represents the particle size of a sphere having the same volume as the particle and s the
shape factor. The bed porosity, , which is the fraction of total volume that is void is defined
as

volume voids

volume of entire bed

3-9
 volume of entire bed volume of particles

volume of entire bed

weight of all particles

R 2 h
= particle density
(3.2-3)
R 2 h

where R = inside radius of column, As and are characteristics of the packing. Experimental
values of can easily be determined from Eq. (3.2-3) but As for non-spherical particles is
usually more difficult to obtain. Values of As and can be found in various references6,7 for
the common commercial packing. As for spheres can be computed from the volume and
surface area of a sphere.

For wet packing, the pressure drop correlation is given by Leva8

P
( ) G
2
L /
= 10 L v
(3.2-4)
h v

where P is the pressure drop (psf), h is the packing height (ft), L is the liquid mass flow rate
per unit area (lb/hr-ft2), Gv is the gas mass flow rate per unit area (lb/hr-ft2), L is the liquid
density (lb/ft3), V is the gas density (lb/ft3), and and are packing parameters9.
The initial procedure for designing a packed column is similar to that for a plate column.
However we will need to follow different procedure in the calculation of the column
diameter and height.

Vapor Liquid Vapor Liquid

Ai y Ai
x
yi

xi yi
xi
y
x
Mass transfer from the liquid Mass transfer from the gas
to the gas phase to the liquid phase

Figure 3.2-1 Mass transfer across the interface.

6
Mc Cabe W. L. et al , Unit Operations of Chemical Engineering, McGraw-Hill, 1993, pg. 689
7
Perry, J. H., Chemical Engineers Handbook, McGraw-Hill, 1984, pg. 18-23
8
Leva M., Chem. Eng. Prog. Symp. Ser. 50(10): 51 (1954)
9
Wankat, P. C., Equilibrium Staged Separations, Elsevier, 1988, pg.420

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