70

Chapter 3

Mass Transfer and Diffusion

N2 over the length of the tube,

= 9.23 x

molls

in the positive z-direction

nH2 = 9.23 x

moVs

in the negative z-direction

The factor (1 - xA) accounts for the bulk-flow effect. For a

mixture dilute in A, the bulk-flow effect is negligible or
small. In mixtures more concentrated in A, the bulk-flow
effect can be appreciable. For example, in an equimolar
mixture of A and B, (1 - xA) = 0.5 and the molar masstransfer flux of A is twice the ordinary molecular-diffusion
flux.
For the stagnant conlponent, B, (3-13) becomes

(b) For equimolar counterdiffusion, the molar-average velocity of

the mixture, U M , is 0. Therefore, from (3-9), species velocities are
equal to species diffusion velocities. Thus,

0.0287
--

Thus, the bulk-flow flux of B is equal but opposite to its

diffusion flux.
At quasi-steady-state conditions, that is, with no accumulation, and with constant molar density, (3-27) becomes in
integral form:

in the positive z-direction

xN2

Similarly,
0.0287
=-

1
I

in the negative z-direction

XH2

Thus, species velocities depend on species mole fractions, as

follows:
Z, cm

XN1

0 (end 1)
5
10
15 (end 2)

0.800
0.617
0.433
0.250

-%I

0.200
0.383
0.567
0.750

VN*

which upon integration yields

,CII~/S V H ,~cm/s

0.035 1
0.0465
0.0663
0.1148

-0.1435
-0.0749
-0.0506
-0.0383

Note that species velocities vary across the length of the connecting tube, but at any location, z, V M = 0. For example, at z = 10 cm,
from (3-8),

Unimolecular Diffusion
In unimolecular diffusion (UMD), mass transfer of component A occurs through stagnant (nonmoving) component B.
Thus,
NB = 0

(3-24)

N = NA

(3-25)

Rearrangement to give the mole-fraction variation as a function of z yields

XA

= 1 - (1 - X A ~
exp
) [NA2biZ1)]

Thus, as shown in Figure 3.lb, the mole fractions are nonlinear in distance.
An alternative and more useful form of (3-31) can be
derived from the definition of the log mean. When z = 22,
(3-3 1) becomes

The log mean (LM) of (1 - xA) at the two ends of the stagnant layer is

and

Therefore, from (3- 12),

Combining (3-33) with (3-34) gives

which can be rearranged to a Fick's-law form,

(3-32)