Introduction to

Mass Transport
Phenomena
 Introduction
• Three fundamental transfer processes:
i) Momentum transfer
ii) Heat transfer
iii) Mass transfer
• Mass transfer may occur in a gas
mixture, a liquid solution or solid.
• Mass transfer occurs whenever there is
a gradient in the concentration of a
species.
• The basic mechanisms are the same
whether the phase is a gas, liquid, or
solid.
Definition of Concentration
i) Number of molecules of each species
present per unit volume
(molecules/m3)
ii) Molar concentration of species i =
Number of moles of i per unit volume
(kmol/m3)
iii) Mass concentration = Mass of i per
unit volume (kg/m3)
• Whenever there is concentration difference
in a medium, nature tends to equalize things
by forcing a flow from the high to the low
concentration region.

Before After

• The molecular transport process of mass is

characterized by the general equation:
Rate of transfer = driving force / resistance
 Example of Mass Transfer Processes

• Consider a tank that is divided into two equal

parts by a partition.
• Initially, the left half of the tank contains
nitrogen N2 gas while the right half contains O2
at the same temperature and pressure.
• When the partition is removed the N2
molecules will start diffusing into the O2 while
the O2 molecules diffuse into the N2.
• If we wait long enough, we will have a
homogeneous mixture of N2 and O2 in the tank.
• Liquid in open pail of water evaporates
into air because of the difference in
concentration of water vapor at the water
surface and the surrounding air.
• A drop of blue liquid dye is added to a cup
of water. The dye molecules will diffuse
slowly by molecular diffusion to all parts of
the water.
Separation Process Principles,
3rd Edition
J. D. Seader (University of Utah)
Ernest J. Henley (University of Houston)
D. Keith Roper (University of Arkansas)

Chapter 1. Separation Processes

 Introduction
• Separation processes developed by early
civilizations include
– extraction of metals from ores, perfumes from flowers,
dyes from plants, and potash from the ashes of burnt
plants;
– evaporation of sea water to obtain salt;
– refining of rock asphalt; and
– distilling of liquors.
• In addition, the human body could not function if
it had no kidney—an organ containing
membranes that separates water and waste
products of metabolism from blood
fig_01_01
 Industrial Chemical Processes
• A chemical or biochemical plant is operated in
a batch-wise, continuous, or semi-continuous
manner.
• The operations may be key operations that
involve changes in chemical composition (such
as - chemical reactions, and separation of
chemical mixtures), or auxiliary operations,
that include phase separation, heat addition or
removal (heat exchangers), shaft work (pumps
or compressors), mixing or dividing of streams,
solids agglomeration, size reduction of solids,
and separation of solids by size.
 Basic Separation Techniques
• A general separation schematic is shown in Figure
as a box wherein species and phase separation
occur, with arrows to designate feed and product
movement. The feed and products may be vapor,
liquid, or solid; and the products differ in composition
and may differ in phase.
 Five Separation Techniques
Figure: Basic
separation
techniques:
(a) separation by
phase creation

• The most common separation technique creates a second

phase, immiscible with the feed phase, by energy (heat
and/or shaft-work) transfer or by pressure reduction.
Common operations of this type are distillation, which
involves the transfer of species between vapor and liquid
phases, exploiting differences in volatility (e.g., vapor
pressure or boiling point) among the species; and
crystallization, which exploits differences in melting point.
 Five Separation Techniques
Figure: Basic
separation
techniques:
(b) separation by
phase addition

• Second technique, as shown in Figure, adds another fluid

phase, which selectively absorbs, extracts, or strips
certain species from the feed. The most common
operations of this type are liquid–liquid extraction, where
the feed is liquid and a second, immiscible liquid phase is
added; and absorption, where the feed is vapor, and a
liquid of low volatility is added. In both cases, species
solubilities are significantly different in the added phase.
 Table: Separation Operations Based on
Phase Creation or Addition

•
 Five Separation Techniques

Figure: Basic
separation
techniques:
(c) separation
by barrier

• Less common, but of growing importance, is the

use of a barrier (shown in Figure (c)), usually a
polymer membrane, which involves a gas or liquid
feed and exploits differences in species
permeabilities through the barrier for separation.
 Five Separation Techniques
Figure: Basic
separation
techniques:
(d) separation by
solid agent

• Also of growing importance are techniques that

involve contacting a vapor or liquid feed with a solid
agent, as shown in Figure (d). Most commonly, the
agent consists of particles that are porous to achieve
a high surface area, and differences in species
adsorbability are exploited.
 Five Separation Techniques
Figure: Basic
separation
techniques:
(e) separation
by force field
or gradient

• Finally, external fields (centrifugal, thermal, electrical, flow,

etc.), shown in Figure (e), are applied in specialized cases
to liquid or gas feeds, with electrophoresis
being especially useful for separating proteins by
exploiting differences in electric charge and diffusivity.
 Properties Used for Separation
• For all separation techniques, the size of the
equipment is determined by rates of mass
transfer of each species from one phase
or location to another, relative to mass
transfer of all species.
• The driving force and direction of mass transfer
is governed by the departure from
thermodynamic equilibrium, which involves
volatilities, solubilities etc.
• Fluid mechanics and heat transfer play
important roles in separation operations.
 Properties Used for Separation
• The extent of separation possible depends on the
exploitation of differences in molecular,
thermodynamic, and transport properties of the
species. Properties of importance are –
1. Molecular properties
Molecular weight, Polarizability,
Van der Waals volume, Dielectric constant,
Van der Waals area, Electric charge,
Molecular shape (acentric factor), Radius of gyration,
Dipole moment
2. Thermodynamic & transport properties
Vapor pressure, Adsorptivity, Solubility, Diffusivity
 Difference between Absorption & Adsorption
• Absorption is the process in which a fluid is dissolved
by a liquid or a solid (absorbent).
• Adsorption is the process in which atoms, ions or
molecules from a substance (it could be gas, liquid or
dissolved solid) adhere to a surface of the adsorbent.
• Adsorption is a surface-
based process where a film
of adsorbate is created on
the surface while absorption
involves the entire volume
of the absorbing substance.
• Absorption is a bulk
phenomenon, whereas
adsorption is a surface
phenomena Ref: http://www.diffen.com/difference/Absorption_vs_Adsorption
 Separation Sequence
• If only two products are desired, only a single
column is required. For three final products, there
are two alternative sequences. As the number of
final products increases, the number of alternative
sequences grows rapidly.
• Methods for determining the optimal sequence
from the possible alternatives are not
straightforward. For initial screening, the following
heuristics are useful and easy to apply, and do
not require column design or cost estimation:
 Separation Sequence
1. Remove unstable, corrosive, or chemically reactive
components early in the sequence.
2. Remove final products one by one as overhead distillates.
3. Remove, early in the sequence, those components of
greatest molar percentage in the feed.
4. Make the most difficult separations in the absence of the
other components.
5. Leave for later in the sequence those separations that
produce final products of the highest purities.
6. Select the sequence that favors near-equimolar amounts
of overhead and bottoms in each column.
Unfortunately, these heuristics sometimes conflict with each
other, and thus a clear choice is not always possible.
 Separation Sequence

Figure 1.8-
Hydrocarbon recovery
process

Chemical plants are designed and operated to meet specifications

for component recoveries and product purities.
 Split Fraction & Split Ratio
• For each column, feed components are partitioned
between the overhead and the bottoms according
to a split fraction or split ratio.
• Split fraction or ratio depends on
– the component thermodynamic and transport properties;
– the number of stages;
– the vapor and liquid flows through the column
• Split fraction, SF, for component i in column/
separator k is the fraction found in the first product:
Figure 1.15 – Technological and Use Maturities of Separation processes