UEMK 3153 Chemical Reaction Engineering II

Date: 28 Jun & 5 July 2013

Tutor-in-charge: Yap Yeow Hong

Tutorial No.2

Lesson 3: External Diffusion Effects

1. What is the driving force of diffusion and what are the two contributions to molar flux?

Driving force: Concentration difference
Contributions: Molecular diffusion flux relative to bulk motion
and flux resulting from bulk motion of the fluid


2. Starting from the formula given below, derive the molar flux for



Species A diffuse into a stagnant film (species B)
Since W
B
= 0








3. Define Ficks First Law

Fick's first law relates the diffusive flux to the concentration under the assumption
of steady state. It postulates that the flux goes from regions of high concentration to
regions of low concentration, with a magnitude that is proportional to the
concentration gradient (spatial derivative).

In one (spatial) dimension, the law is









A A A
B J W + =
( )
B A A A A
W W y J W + + =
A A A AB A
W y y cD W + V =
A AB
A
A
y cD
y
V

=
1
1
W
dz
dC
D J
A
A A
=
Application using Mass Transfer Coefficient: Packed Bed
Using Thoenes-Kramers correlation


4. Based on Fogler Example 11-3: Hydrazine (N
2
H
4
) has been used as a rocket fuel in
monopropellant thrusters for long duration space flights. Thrusters are used for altitude
control of communication satellites.

Here the decomposition of hydrazine over a packed bed of alumina-supported iridium
catalyst is of interest. In a proposed study, a 2% hydrazine in 98% helium mixture is to be
passed over a packed bed of cylindrical particles 0.25cm in diameter and 0.5cm in length
at a gas-phase velocity of 15 m/s and a temperature of 750 K. The kinematic viscosity of
helium at this temperature is 4.5 x 10
-4
m
2
/s. The hydrazine decomposition reaction is
believed to be externally mass transfer-limited under these conditions. If the packed bed
is 0.05m in length, what conversion can be expected? Assume isothermal operation. The
Thoenes and Kramers correlation can be used to obtain the mass transfer coefficient.

Additional information:

D
AB
= 0.69 x 10
-4
m
2
/s at 298 K
Bed porosity = 0.3


ANSWER:









5. Based on Fogler Question 11-5: A plant is removing Cl
2
from a waste gas stream by
passing it over a porous solid catalyst in a tubular packed bed. At present, 63.2% removal
is being accomplished, but it is believed that greater removal can be achieved if the flow
rate were increased by a factor of 4, the particle diameter were decreased by a factor of 3,
and the packed bed tube length increased by 50%. What percentage of chlorine would be
removed under the new proposal? (The chlorine is removed completely by a virtually
instantaneous chemical reaction)

The Thoenes and Kramers correlation can be used to obtain the mass transfer coefficient.


where







ANSWER:
X = 0.632 for d
p
, L
b
, v

Conversion profile along the bed length






From Thoenes and Kramer formula, we can substitute to get:










Therefore,









3 / 1 2 / 1
Sc' Re' Sh'=
( ) ( ) |
|
|
|

=
1 1
Sh'
AB
p c
D
d k
Sh
( ) ( ) |

|
|

=
1 1
Re
Re'
p
ud
AB
D

= Sc'
|
.
|

\
|
=
u
L a k
X
c c
exp 1
u
L a k
X
c c
= |
.
|

\
|
1
1
ln
( )
3 / 1
2 / 1
1
1
Sc
ud
d
D
k
p
p
AB
c
|
|
.
|

\
|

=
|

|
|
2 / 1
2 / 1
p
c
d
u
k o
( )
p
c
d
a
|
=
1 6
|
.
|

\
|
|
|
.
|

\
|
|
|
.
|

\
|
|
.
|

\
|
u
L
d d
u
X
p p
1
1
1
ln
2
1
o
L
d u X
p
|
|
.
|

\
|
|
.
|

\
|
|
.
|

\
|

2 / 3 2 / 1
1 1
1
1
ln o
Substitute the value and turning it into ratio:























6. Based on Fogler Question 11-6: In a chemical plant, a reversible fluid phase reaction


is carried out over a solid catalyst in a tubular packed-bed reactor. If the reaction is very
rapid that mass transfer between the catalyst surface and the bulk fluid is rate-limiting,
show that the kinetics is described by the following formula:





Let say we want to double the capacity of the existing plant by processing twice the feed
of reactant A while maintaining the same fractional conversion of A to B in the reactor.
How much larger a reactor in terms of catalyst weight would be required if all other
operating variables are held constant? You may used the Thoenes-Kramers correlation
for mass transfer coefficients in a packed bed.





Describe the effects of the flow rate, temperature, particle size, on conversion.
B A
| |
A B
B A B
A
k k K
C K C k
r
/ / 1
) / 1 (
' '
+

=
( )
L
L
d
d
u
u
X
p
p
5 . 1
.
3
.
4
1
1
ln
632 . 0 1
1
ln
2 / 3
2 / 3
2 / 1
2 / 1
2
|
|
.
|

\
|
=
|
|
.
|

\
|

|
.
|

\
|

5 . 1
1
.
3
1
. 2
1
1
ln
632 . 0 1
1
ln
2 / 3
2 / 3 2 / 1
2
|
|
.
|

\
|
|
.
|

\
|
|
.
|

\
|
=
|
|
.
|

\
|

|
.
|

\
|

p
p
d
d
u
u
X
2566 . 0
5 . 1
1
.
3
1
. 2
1
1
ln
632 . 0 1
1
ln
2 / 3
2 / 3 2 / 1
2
=
|
|
.
|

\
|
|
.
|

\
|
|
.
|

\
|
=
|
|
.
|

\
|

|
.
|

\
|

p
p
d
d
u
u
X
8958 . 3
2566 . 0
632 . 0 1
1
ln
1
1
ln
2
=

=
X
98 . 0
2
= X
( )
3 / 1
2 / 1
1
1
Sc
ud
d
D
k
p
p
AB
c
|
|
.
|

\
|

=
|

|
|