CP302 Separation Process Principles

Mass Transfer / Set 2

(Worked) Examples in interface mass transfer,
mass transfer coefficients, oerall coefficients and transfer !nits
Example "#
An exhaust stream from a semiconductor fabrication unit contains 3 mole% acetone and 97 mole
% air. In order to eliminate any possible environmental pollution, this acetone-air stream is to be
fed to a mass-transfer column in which the acetone will be stripped by a countercurrent, fallin
water stream at !93 ". #he tower is to be operated at a total pressure of $.%$3 x $%
&
'a. If the
combined (aoult-)alton e*uilibrium relation may be used to determine the distribution of
acetone between the air and the a*ueous phase, determine +i, the mole fraction of acetone within
the a*ueous phase which would be in e*uilibrium with the 3 mole% acetone as mixture, and
+ii, the mole fraction of acetone in the as phase which would be in e*uilibrium with !% ppm
acetone in the a*ueous phase. #he vapour pressure of acetone at !93 " is &.-. x $%
.
'a.
Solution:
)alton/s law ives the partial pressure of a component A in the as-phase as follows0
P y p
A
phase gas
A
=

where y
A
is the mole fraction of A in the as-phase and P is the total pressure in the as-phase.
(aoult/s law ives the partial pressure of component A in the as-phase as follows0
A A
phase liquid
A
P x p =

where x
A
is the mole fraction of A in the solution and P
A
is the vapour pressure of pure A.

In a perfectly ideal system, where ideal li*uid and ideal vapor are assumed, (aoult1s law is
combined with )alton/s law to ive the followin relationship0
A A A
P x P y =
which will be used to solve 2xample $.
+i, 3ole fraction of acetone within the a*ueous phase which would be in e*uilibrium with 3
mole% acetone as mixture can be expressed as follows0
%&39 . %
'a $% -. . &
'a, $% %$3 . $ ,+ %3 . % +
.
&
=

= =
A
A
A
P
P y
x
+ii, 3ole fraction of acetone in the as phase which would be in e*uilibrium with !% ppm
acetone in the a*ueous phase is calculated in two staes. 4irst !% ppm acetone in the a*ueous
phase is converted to mole fraction of acetone in the a*ueous phase as follows0
-
$% !%7 . -
mol , $5 6 95% , 999 + mol , &5 6 !% +
mol , &5 6 !% +

water 95% , 999 acetone !%
acetone !%

phase a*ueous in acetone ppm !%

=
+
=
+
=
=
A
x
#hen the mole fraction of acetone in the as phase which would be in e*uilibrium with !% ppm
acetone in the a*ueous phase is expressed as follows0
-
&
. -
$% .& . 3
'a $% %$3 . $
'a, $% -. . & ,+ $% !%7 . - +

= =
P
P x
y
A A
A

Example 2#
$
#he 7enry/s law constant for oxyen dissolved in water is ..%- x $%
9
'a6+mole of 8
!
per total
mole of solution, at !93 ". )etermine +i, the e*uilibrium mole fraction of oxyen in water
which is exposed to dry air at $.%$3 x $%
&
'a and !93 ", and +ii, the correspondin e*uilibrium
solution concentration of oxyen in water.
Solution:
Assumin phase e*uilibrium at the as-li*uid interface, 7enry/s law is usually written as
follows0
A A A
C H p =
where p
A
is the as-phase partial pressure of component A, C
A
is the li*uid phase concentration
of component A that is in e*uilibrium with p
A
, and 7
A
is the 7enry/s law constant for A in
appropriate unit +which in this case would be pressure 6 concentration,.
#he unit of 7enry/s law constant iven in 2xample ! is 'a6+mole of 8
!
per total mole of
solution,, which is pressure 6 mole fraction. #herefore, we need to write 7enry/s law as follows0

A A A
x H p =
where x
A
is the e*uilibrium mole fraction of A in the li*uid phase.
+i, 2*uilibrium mole fraction of oxyen in the li*uid phase can therefore be calculated usin the
followin expression 0
oxygen
oxygen
oxygen
H
p
x =
9ince dry air contains !$ mole percent oxyen, partial pressure of oxyen +p
oxygen
, can be
calculated as follows0
'a $% $3 . ! , 'a $% %$3 . $ ,+ !$ . % +
. &
= = =
T oxygen oxygen
P y p
:sin the value of 7enry/s law constant iven, we et
solution 6mol 8 mol $% !& . &
solution, 6mol 8 'a6+mol $% %- . .
'a $% $3 . !
!
-
!
9
.

=
oxygen
x
+ii, 2*uilibrium concentration of oxyen in water can be calculated usin the followin
expression0
T oxygen oxygen
C x C =
where C
T
is the total number of moles of solution per unit volume.
Assumin the solution to be very dilute, C
T
can be calculated as follows0
3
3
3
;mol6m &.&- &
;6;mol $5
;6m $%%%
;6m $%%% = = =
T
C
#herefore, we et
( )( )
m6l 33 . 9
m6m 33 . 9 m6m 3! !9! . % mol6m !9! . %
;mol6m &.&- & solution 6mol 8 mol $% !& . &
3 3 3
3
!
-
=
= = =
= =

T oxygen oxygen
C x C
Example 3#
In an experimental study of the absorption of ammonia by water in a wetted-wall column, the
overall mass-transfer coefficient, K
G
, was found to be !.7. x $%
-9
;mol6m
!
.s.'a. At one point in
!
Liquid
phase
Liquid
film
Gas
phase
y
Ab
x
Ai
x
Ab
y
Ai
Gas
film
Mass transport, N
A
the column, the as phase contained 5 mole % ammonia and the li*uid-phase concentration was
%.%-. ;mol ammonia per m
3
of solution. #he tower is operated at !93 " and $.%$3 x $%
&
'a. At
that temperature, the 7enry/s law constant for ammonia is $.3&5 x $%
3
'a6+;mol6m
3
,. If 5&% of
the total resistance to mass transfer is encountered in the as phase, determine +i, the individual
film mass-transfer coefficients, and +ii, the interfacial compositions.
Solution:
)ata provided +with reference to the symbols on the diaram,0
8verall mass-transfer coefficient0 K
G
< !.7. x $%
-9
;mol6m
!
.s.'a
3olar fraction of ammonia in the bul; as-phase0 y
Ab
< %.%5
=oncentration of ammonia in the bul; li*uid-phase0 C
Ab
< %.%-. ;mol6m
3
9ystem temperature0 # < !93 "
9ystem pressure0 ' < $.%$3 x $%
&
'a
7enry/s law constant for ammonia at !93 "0 H
A
< $.3&5 x $%
3
'a6+;mol6m
3
,
3ass transfer resistance in the as-phase < 5&% of the total resistance
#o be determined from the data provided +with reference to
the symbols on the diaram,0
+i, Individual film mass-transfer coefficients, which are
the as-phase mass-transfer coefficient +k
p
, and the
li*uid-phase mass-transfer coefficient +k
c
,.
+ii, Interfacial compositions +y
Ai
and x
Ai
,
+i, >et us start with e*uation +&5, from the lecture notes0
c
A
p G
k
H
k K
+ =
$ $
where +$6K
G
, ives the total resistance to mass transfer, +$6k
p
,
ives the mass transfer resistance in the as-phase.
9ince the mass transfer resistance in the as-phase is said to be 5&% of the total resistance, we
have the followin relationship
.s.'a6;mol m $% $% . 3
.s.'a ;mol6m $% !.7.
$
5& . %
$
5& . %
$
! 5
! 9 -
=

=
G p
K k
.s.'a ;mol6m $% 3.!!-
.s.'a6;mol m $% $% . 3
$
! 9 -
! 5
=

=
p
k
:sin the numerical values of +$6K
G
, and +$6k
p
, and the 7enry/s law constant iven, we can
calculate the li*uid-phase mass-transfer coefficient +k
c
, as follows0
c
k
, m 'a6+;mol6 $% $.3&5
.s.'a ;mol6m $% 3.!!-
$
.s.'a ;mol6m $% !.7.
$
3 3
! 9 - ! 9 -

+

which ives
m6s $% !..7
-&
=
c
k
.
+ii, #o determine the interfacial compositions, we need to write the e*uations expressin the
mass transfer N
A
at steady state as follows0
( ) ( )
?
A Ab G Ai Ab p A
p p K p p k N = =
which are e*uations +&!, and +&9, of the lecture notes, respectively.
9ince we have already calculated k
p
, K
G
and k
c
, the followin e*uations to calculate the
interfacial compositions can be reduced from can be reduced from the above expression0
( )
?
A Ab
p
G
Ab Ai
p p
k
K
p p =
3
9ince
P y p
Ab Ab
=
and
Ab A A
C H p =
?
, usin the data provided the partial pressure at the
interface can be calculated as follows0
( )
( ) ( )( )
'a $!59.&
;mol6m %-. . % , m 'a6+;mol6 $% 3&5 . $ 5& . % 5& . % $ , 'a $% %$3 . $ + %5 . %
$
3 3 3 &
?
=
+ =
+

= =
Ab A
p
G
p
G
Ab A Ab
p
G
Ab Ai
C H
k
K
k
K
P y p p
k
K
p p
:sin the above, concentration at the interface can be calculated as follows0
3
3 3
;mol6m %.9.9&
, m 'a6+;mol6 $% 3&5 . $
'a $!59.&
=

= =
A
Ai
Ai
H
p
C
Example $#
A wastewater stream is introduced to the top of a mass-transfer tower where it flows
countercurrent to an air steam. At one point in the tower, the wastewater stream contains $ x $%
-3
mol A6m
3
and the air is essentially pure of any A. At the operatin conditions within the tower,
the film mass-transfer coefficients are k
L
< & x $%
-.
m6s and k
G
< %.%$ ;mol6m
!
.s.atm. #he
concentrations are in the 7enry/s law reion where
A A A
C H p =
with H
A
< $% atm6+;mol6m
3
,.
)etermine +i, the overall mass flux of A, and +ii, the overall mass-transfer coefficients K
L
and
K
G
.
Answers:
+i, 8verall mass flux of A < ..97 x $%
-$%
;mol6m
!
.s
+ii, K
L
< ..97 x $%
-.
m6s
K
G
< ..97 x $%
-&
;mol6m
!
.s.atm
Example %#
@hen a mixture of ammonia and air is brouht into contact with water, some ammonia dissolves
in water. #he e*uilibrium relationship for this system in iven by p
i
< %.%!$-C
i
, where p
i
is the
partial pressure +in atm, of ammonia in air and C
i
is the concentration +in ;6m
3
,of ammonia in
water, which are in e*uilibrium with each other. A mixture of $%% ammonia and 9%% air by
moles at $ atm is in contact continuously with an a*ueous solution containin !.& of ammonia
per litre. #he air velocity is such than the li*uid film mass-transfer coefficient and the as film
mass-transfer coefficient are e*ual. 4ind the concentration and the partial pressure of ammonia
at the interface.
Sources:
(i) Past CP3! e"amination papers
(ii) #$L: http:%%courses&nus&edu&s'%course%chewch%C(!)!*%lectures%+ee,))&ppt
.