Assignment # 1

Assignment Title:
Concentration profile for Mass Transfer near
Interface

Subject:
Mass Trasfer-1

Submitted to:
Engr. Usman Farooq

Submitted By:
Mehran Rasheed Goraya
10043123-029

Department:
Chemical Engineering Department

University of Gujrat

Interphase Mass Transfer

The transport of mass within a single phase depends directly on the
concentration gradient of the transporting species in that phase. Mass may
also transport from one phase to another, and this process is called
Interphase Mass Transfer.
Many physical situations occur in nature where two phases are in contact,
and the phases are separated by an interface. Like single-phase transport,
the concentration gradient of the transporting species (in this case in both
phases) influences the overall rate of mass transport. More precisely,
transport between two phases requires a departure from equilibrium, and the
equilibrium of the transporting species at the interface is of principal
concern. When a multiphase system is at equilibrium, no mass transfer will
occur. When a system is not at equilibrium, mass transfer will occur in such a
manner as to move the system toward equilibrium.
Let us take the familiar examples of two phases in contact, are two
immiscible liquids, a gas and a liquid, or a liquid and a solid. From the
standpoint of mathematically describing these processes, each of these
situations is physically equivalent. Since oxygen is required for all aerobic life
and water is the principal medium of life, the transport of oxygen between
air (Phase I) in contact with water (Phase II) is of paramount concern.

Concentration profiles near the Interface:

Mass transfer from one phase say gas phase G, to another phase say the
liquid phase L, involves the following steps in a sequence:
1) The solute (A) is transported from the bulk of the gas phase to the gasliquid interface.
2) The solute (A) is absorbed by the liquid phase at the gas-liquid
interface.
3) The absorbed solute (A) is transported from the interface to the bulk of
the liquid.
The steps 1 and 3 are facilitated by turbulence in the fluid medium.
The concentration of solute A should be larger in the bulk of the gas
than at the gas-side of the interface so that it provides positive driving
force for the mass transfer towards the liquid.

 Similarly, the concentration of solute A should decrease from the

liquid-side of the interface to the bulk of the liquid ensuring a favorable
driving force in the liquid phase as well.

The figure shows the variations of the gas phase and the liquid phase
concentrations near the interface.

Figure 1:
The phase concentration of A in mole fraction unit decreases from y b in the
bulk gas to yai at the gas side of interface to x ab in the bulk of the liquid
(Subscript is used to denote the bulk of a phase). From the figure y A and xA
are the functions of z (Abscissa which indicate the distance), and z=0 means
the interface. So

Physically, yAi is the mole fraction of A on the gas side of the interface and x Ai
is the mole fraction of A on the liquid side of the interface. And these are
called the interfacial concentrations.
In most situations involving mass transfer, we assume that equilibrium exists
at the interface, i.e. yAi and xAi are at equilibrium. Now this is written as
yAi = (xAi)
Where the function represent the dependence of yA on xA at equilibrium.
This function is also called equilibrium relation. If ii so happen that the
Henrys law is valid for this solute-solvent pair, the equilibrium relation
becomes linear

yAi = (xAi) = m xAi

Now this Henry law is only valid when the two phases are in equilibrium. But
if the phases are not in equilibrium and come in contact with each other than
what will be the interfacial equilibrium?
Than answer to this question is related to the interfacial resistances called
two film theory or two resistance theory.

Two film theory:

In many separation processes, material must diffuse from ne phase
into another phase and the rates of diffusion in both phases affect the overall
rate of mass transfer. In two film theory, proposed by Whitman in 1923,
equilibrium is assumed at the interface, and the resistances to mass transfer
in the two phases re added to get and overall resistance. Just as is done for
heat transfer. The reciprocal of the overall resistance is an overall coefficient,
which is easier to use for design calculations than the individual coefficients.
What makes mass transfer between phases more complex than heat transfer
is the discontinuity at the interface, which occurs because the concentration
or mole fraction of diffusing solute is hardly ever the same on opposite side
of the interface.
For example, in distillation of a binary mixture, y A* is greater than xA, and the
gradients near the surface of a bubble might be as shown in figure a below.
For the absorption of a very soluble gas, the mole fraction in the liquid at the
interface would be greater than that in the gas as shown in fig. b.
In two film theory, the rate of transfer to the interface is set equal to the rate
of the transfer from the interface
r = kx(xA - xAi)
r = ky(yAi - yA)
The rate is also set equal to an overall coefficient K y times an overall driving
force yA* - yA, where yA* is the composition of the vapor that would be in
equilibrium with the bulk liquid of composition xA.
r = Ky(yA* - yA)

To get Ky in terms of ky and kx. The above equation should be rearrange and
the term yA* - yA replaced by (yA* - yAi) + (yAi - yA)

Now put the value of r in this above equation we get

Where (yA* - yAi)/ (xA - xAi) is the slope of equilibrium curve on the graph and it
is denoted by m so above equation becomes

The term 1/Ky can be considered an overall resistance to mass transfer, and
the terms m/kx and 1/ky are the resistaces in the liquid and gas films. These
films need not to be stagnant layers of a certain thickness in order for the
two film theory to apply.
The essential part of two film theory is the method of allowing for the
partition of solute between phases at the interface while combining
individual coefficients to get overall coefficient.

References:
Unit Operation of Chemical Engineering 7th edition by MCcabe and Smith
Principles of mass transfer and separation process by Binay k. Dutta
Mass Transfer and concentration profiles near phase boundaries, paper int. j.
Therm. Sci. (2001)40, 425-436