Diffusion of Acetone in Air

Bryan John (50%) Jeremy Alley (50%)

Alley, John 2

Table of Contents(check short report format) I. Abstract(usually put abstract before !, no pa"e #s, etc. also) $ II. Bac%"roun& III. ()perimental *etho&s I+. Discussion of ,esults +. !onclusions an& ,ecommen&ations Figures and Tables -i"ure $ -i"ure 2 -i"ure / able $ Appendices Appen&i) A (2omenclature an& 3ample !alculations) Appen&i) B (()cel 3prea& 3heets) Biblio"raphy . . 0 1 ' ' 5 $2

Alley, John / Abstract (3 Cs: Clear, Concise , Complete) A molecular &iffusion e)periment of acetone4air (re&un&ant 56 last sentence. . concise)5as con&ucte& 5ith the "oal of &eterminin" the &iffusion coefficient of acetone into air. -or this e)periment, acetone 5as place& in a test tub /mm 7D, 2mm ID . . (is that correct8) 2*, tube8 e an& 5as allo5e& to &iffuse into non4&iffusin" air that 5as passe& o9er the test tube. he air that passe& o9er the tube 5as from natural circulation he &iffusion occurre&

in the room an& no air 5as force& o9er the top of the test tube.

o9er a perio& of appro)imately ei"ht hours, 5ith rea&in"s ta%en each hour. After analy:in" the &ata collecte& from the performance of this e)periment, t he &iffusion coefficient 5as calculate& to be 0.01; < 0.02 cm26s at = 8. After completin" our

calculations, o7ur results 5ere then compare& usin" the !hapman4(ns%o" e>uation as 5ell as the -uller, 3chettler, an& ?i&&in"s metho&. he &iffusion coefficient calculate&

by the !hapman4(ns%o" 5as 0.110 < 0.00$ cm26s an& the result of the -uller, 3chettler, an& ?i&&in"s metho& 5as 0.$0' < .002 cm26s. he literature 9alue foun& in @erryAs = 8. . .or e)trapolate&

!hemical (n"ineerAs Ban&boo% 5as 0.$25 < 0.00 cm26s. (at

from8) he a"reement of our metho& 5ith the other metho&s a9ailable for calculatin" the &iffusion coefficient 5as 9ery "oo& (ho5 "oo& is C9eryD "oo&. ..si"nificant &iscrepencies or not8), an& also a"ree& 5ell 5ith the literature 9alue foun&. his le& to a conclusion

that this metho& of &eterminin" the &iffusion coefficient of acetone into air can be aconsi&ere& a reasonably reliable metho&.

Alley, John '

BAC !"#$%& *olecular &iffusion is the transfer or mo9ement of in&i9i&ual molecules throu"h a flui& by ran&om molecular mo9ements (?ean%oplis '$2, year of publication). In the &iffusion process, the molecules of interest flo5 from re"ions of hi"h concentration to lo5 concentration. *olecular &iffusion can occur in both &irections 5ith the system. In the case of the &iffusion tube e)periment, ho5e9er, acetone &iffuses throu"h non4 &iffusin" air, 5hich is passe& o9er the top of the test tube containin" the acetone. is allo5e& into the test tube, but &oes not &iffuse into the acetone. *olecular &iffusion of "ases has been stu&ie& for many years. *olecular &iffusion is a mass transport process *oti9ation for its stu&y comes from the fact that chemical separation processes such as &istillation, &ryin", ion e)chan"e systems as 5ell as many other processes &epen& on molecular &iffusion (Eir%47thmer +ol ;, p $'1(chec% format)). '()'"*+'%TA, +'T-#&. -or the performance of this e)periment, a small test tube 5as fille& appro)imately a thir& full of acetoneBe specific. . ho5 small, startin" hei"ht, &iam, etc. his test tube he air

5as then 9ertically place& in a $0mF "ra&uate& cylin&er 5hich containe& small bea&s. he purpose of the bea&s 5as to ensure that the test tube remaine& 9ertical. assembly 5as then place& on a &i"ital scale. his

he amount of air mo9ement pro9i&e& by

the 9entilation system 5as assume& to be a&e>uate so as to ensure that the concentration

Alley, John 5 of the acetone at the top of the tube 5as :ero. An initial acetone le9el in the test tube 5as ta%en, as 5ell as the mass of the assembly an& the temperature of the area surroun&in" the assembly. After this initial &ata 5as ta%en, the area temperature an& mass of the assembly 5ere ta%en appro)imately e9ery hour for the ne)t ei"ht hours. he final le9el

of the acetone in the test tube 5as ta%en 5hen the final temperature an& mass rea&in" 5ere ta%en. &*.C$..*#% #F "'.$,T. -rom the &ata collecte& from the e)periment, the &iffusion coefficient 5as calculate& usin" e>uation ..242. from ?ean%oplisG

t=

A ( z 2 f z 2 0 ) RTp BM 2 M A D AB P( p A$ p A 2 )

((>uation $)

As the : 9alue 5as only recor&e& at the be"innin" an& the en& of the e)periment, the interme&iate 9alues of : ha& to be calculate&. calculation of the interme&iate : 9aluesG zt = (m0 mt ) + z0 AA ((>uation 2) he follo5in" e>uation 5as use& for the

hus, all 9alues but DAB 5ere %no5n an& coul& be plotte& 9ersus time to obtain a linear plot. By rearran"in" e>uation $, it can be seen that the slope of this plot 5ill be e>ual to $6 DAB G

t=(

$ A ( z 2 f z 2 0 ) RTp BM )( ) D AB 2M A P( p A$ p A2 )

((>uation $.$) his

he initial plot of &ata 5hich inclu&es all points is sho5n belo5 in -i"ure $. plot contains all points an& has an ,2 9alue of 0.1'0;. -rom this plot the molecular &iffusi9ity coefficient 5as &etermine& to be 0.$0; < 0.022 cm26s.

Alley, John .

t vs x
30000.00 25000.00 20000.00 15000.00 t 10000.00 5000.00 0.00 -5000.00 0 0.05 0.1 0.15 x 0.2 0.25 0.3

-i"ure $G -irst plot of &ata in (>uation $

he secon& point in the &ata (t=2000s) sho5e& no &iffusion occurre& in the first '5 minutes, 5hich seems unli%ely (yes, "oo&4 sensiti9ity of balance, etc). If this point is ta%en as erroneous, the ,2 9alue "oes up to 0.1./1 (more important here 5ill be the confi&ence inter9al on the slop. . ."et that from ools4 Data Analyis4,e"ression menu in ()cel or else in @olymath or able!ure9e, etc) an& the molecular &iffusi9ity calculates out to be 0.01; < 0.02$ cm26s. he plot of the e)perimental &ata e)clu&in" the secon&

point is presente& belo5 in -i"ure 2.

t vx x
30000 25000 20000 15000 t 10000 5000 0 -5000 0 0.05 0.1 0.15 x 0.2 0.25 0.3

Alley, John 0
-i"ure 2G 3econ& plot of &ata in (>uation $. . forcin" throu"h :ero point is "oo&. . .loo%s to me li%e first -7H, points 5oul& "i9e a lo5er Dab then the last '. @roblems 5ith ne)t / that lie belo5 line8 Anytihin" suspicious happenin" here8

o &etermine the time it ta%es for the system to reach stea&y state, the follo5in" e>uation can be use& to calculate the fraction of stea&y state the system is atG

( N A )t = $ 2e ( N A ) t =
/)

Dzt2t 2 zo

+ 2e

' Dzt2t 2 zo

2e

1 Dzt2t 2 zo

+ 2e

$. Dzt2t 2 zo

2e

25 Dzt2t 2 zo

((>uation

By plottin" the 9alue of ((2A)t6(2A)t=I) 9ersus time, the cur9e in -i"ure / 5as "enerate& 5hich &emonstrates the systems approach to stea&y state. Jo5, "reatK !ite source. (still 5on&er about 33 con&itions of $st ' pts thou"h. . .

((NA)t/(NA)t=) vs t
1.20E+00 1.00E+00 ((NA)t/(NA)t=) 8.00E-01 6.00E-01 4.00E-01 2.00E-01 0.00E+00 0 100 200 t (min) 300 400 500

-i"ure /G -raction of stea&y state 9ersus time

-rom this plot, it coul& be sai& that the system achie9es stea&y state in $$5 minutesL ho5e9er, there is stron" e9i&ence this may not be accurate. As mentione& earlier, the secon& point may be erroneous. his 5oul& chan"e the path of the cur9e. In

a&&ition, &ata 5as not collecte& at a hi"h enou"h fre>uency for this cur9e to be hi"hly

Alley, John ; accurate at pre&ictin" the time to stea&y state. If in fact the secon& point is erroneous, the system coul& ha9e come to stea&y state 5ell before $$5 minutes. his time of $$5

minutes at best, coul& be the upper boun& (or lo5er boun& accor&in" to Jhita%erAs criteria in his article (han&out). . .not sureKKfor the time it ta%es for the system to come to stea&y state. he scatter in the &ata can be attribute& to 9arious factors in the e)periment. he

scatter coul& be attribute& to the chan"es in temperature, as the temperature &i& fluctuate sli"htly throu"h the &uration of the e)periment M ?oo&K. At 5hat time &i& it stabili:e8. he chan"e in temperature 5oul& cause a chan"e in the partial pressure of the acetone lea&in" to further &e9iations. In a&&ition, there 5as no measure of airflo5 past the tube. !han"es in the airflo5 coul& also ha9e contribute& to the scatter as it coul& effect the concentration of the acetone at the top of the test tube (?oo&K). he &iffusion coefficient 5as also calculate& usin" the !hapman (ns%o" e>uation,
DAB = $.;5;/ N$0 0 T / 6 2 $ $ $6 2 ( + ) P AB D , AB MA MB

((>uation ')

an& the -uller, 3chettler an& ?i&&in"s metho&.

DAB =

$.00 N$0 0 T $.05 ($ 6 M A + $ 6 M B )$6 2 PP(v A )$6 / + (vB )$6 / O2

((>uation 5)

A literature 9alue 5as also foun& for acetone at 88 E(chec% @errys), 5hich 5as correcte& to our e)perimental temperature usin" the correlation
DAB 2 = DAB$ T2$.05 T$$.05

((>uation .)

Alley, John 1 he 9alues obtaine& 5ith these metho&s as 5ell as those from the e)perimental &ata are presente& in able 2.
E) eri!ental *l#t %alue&c!2's( 0.0+81 + &c!2's( 0.0213 0.001, sh#uld r#-. .se /#ur gi0en &a r#). 81 and 21 0.0015 2

Fuller Schettler and Giddings Cha !an Ens"#g $iterature

0.1044 0.0+8+ 0.125

able $G +alues of molecular &iffusi9ity coefficients foun&.NN

NN A 9ery "oo& 5ay to sho5 this "raphically in ()cel 5oul& be to use a bar "raph sho5in" the 9alues of Dab as hei"ht of a bar by metho& use&, an& error bars to easily &emonstrate any o9erlap of uncertainty, &iscrepancy, etc. ()ampleG

0.14 Calculated Diffusivity 0.12 0.1 0.08 0.06 0.04 0.02 0 Data Fuller Schettler and Cha !an Ens"#g Giddings Method $iterature

Alley, John $0 he !hapman (ns%o" metho& is accurate 5ithin ;% an& the -uller 3chettler an& ?i&&in"s 9alue has a lo5er accuracy than the !hapman (ns%o" (?ean%oplis '25). !hapman (ns%o" 9alue is less than $% &ifferent than the e)perimental 9alue an& the -uller 3chettler an& ?i&&in"s 9alue only about .% &ifferent. -rom this analysis, it seems these e>uations pre&icte& the e)perimental 9alue 9ery 5ell. about 20% lo5er than the literature 9alue. hese calculate& 9alues are he

his 9ariance may come from the inconsistent

temperature in the room or from pressure fluctuations in the room cause& perhaps by the startin" an& stoppin" of the B+A! systems. -or the &eri9ation of (>uation $, se9eral assumptions are ma&e. Be"innin" 5ith the "eneral e>uation (?ean%oplis ..24$')G
dx A c A ( NA + NB ) + dz c

N A = cD AB

((>uation 0)

7ne assumption 5as that because the case e)amine& 5as a &iffusin" A (acetone) into non4&iffusin" B (air), the &iffusion flu) of air into the acetone (2B) 5as e>ual to :ero. Another assumption ma&e 5as that since the total pressure 5as lo5, the acetone "as &iffusin" into air 5as an i&eal "as. his allo5e& for the term c to be replace& 5ith its

i&eal "as e>ui9alent, @6, . A&&itionally, the air passin" o9er the test tube 5as assume& to contain no 5ater 9apor. An a9era"e air 9elocity that 5as uniform 5as passin" o9er the acetone containin" test tube 5as also assume&. here are non4i&ealities that e)ist in the molecular &iffusion of acetone into air. 3ome of these non4i&ealities are correcte& for in the Qournal from Fee an& Jil%e. Acetone &isplays surface tension effects 5hich, instea& of ha9in" a perfectly hori:ontal

Alley, John $$ li>ui& surface, "i9e the li>ui& acetone a sli"htly &o5n5ar& cur9e& li>ui& le9el. Because of this cur9ature, the actual &iffusion path len"th that the acetone tra9els is smaller than 5hat the &iffusion len"th 5oul& appear to be base& on center li>ui& le9el or calculate& li>ui& 9olume (Fee 2/;'). Alon" 5ith a non i&eal li>ui& surface, the air passin" o9er the open en& of the tube may cause some turbulence to e)ist in the top portion of the tube. Jith its e)istence, the turbulent area of the tube 5ill cause a len"th to e)ist insi&e the tube 5here the concentration of acetone is :ero. Jith the presence of this acetone 9apor4free re"ion, the &iffusion len"th is a"ain shorter than it 5oul& appear to be. o account for the non4i&ealities in the &iffusion process, Fee an& Jil%e &o not use the apparent &iffusion path. Instea&, they use an effecti9e a9era"e &iffusion path 5hich they "i9e byG
x = x a x s x e = x a x

((>uation ;)

Jhere ) is the effecti9e a9era"e &iffusion path, R)s is the len"th of the cur9ature of the non4i&eal li>ui& to account for the surface tension forces, R)e is the len"th of the tube 5here the acetone 9apor4free re"ion e)ists &ue to turbulence that e)ists from the passa"e of the air, an& R) is the sum of R)s an& R)e (Fee 2/;'). Jhen this is substitute& bac% into the &iffusion e>uation, it becomes the follo5in"G
Da Pp DPp = RTp a 2 x a RTp f ( x a x )

NA =

((>uation 1)

Alley, John $2 Jhere Da is the apparent &iffusion coefficient an& D is the true &iffusion coefficient base& on the true &iffusion path (Fee 2/;'). he 5ay our e)periment 5as setup, the

&ri9in" force for the air across the test tube 5as natural air flo5 an& &i& not employ force& air flo5. Because of this, the len"th of the tube 5here the turbulence e)iste& in the Fee an& Jil%e Qournal 5oul& most li%ely not ha9e been present in our e)periment. Also, the initial li>ui& acetone le9el selecte& in our e)periment 5as such that the len"th of the cur9ature &ue to the surface tension forces on the acetone 5oul& ha9e been ne"li"ible 5hen compare& to the apparent &iffusion len"th of the tube. he initial hei"ht of the li>ui& in the tube for this e)periment 5as chosen 5isely. he reason for this is that 5ith the initial le9el that 5as chosen, a sufficiently lon" &iffusion path e)iste& such that the non4i&ealities that 5ere accounte& for in the Fee an& Jil%e Qournal entry 5oul& ha9e ha& a 9ery insi"nificant impact on the results of our e)periment. C#%C,$.*#%. A%& "'C#++'%&AT*#%. -rom the &ata collecte& an analy:e&, it has been &etermine& that the e)perimental proce&ure use& here can &etermine the molecular &iffusi9ity coefficient 5ith some le9el of accuracy. -or future e)periments, some form of air flo5 re"ulation shoul& be in9esti"ate&. 3omethin" as simple as a room fan coul& be place& ne)t to the scale to ensure a more constant air flo5. Another increase in accuracy coul& be achie9e& by re"ulatin" the temperature 5ith more consistency. If the e)periment coul& be performe& in a lar"e insulate& room, the temperature may not 9ary as much.

Alley, John $/ ?oo& Qob on Discussion, !onclusions, etc. . .to impro9e maybe e)pan& to relate 5hat S7H thin% are the main TuncertaintysA that cause& problems in S7H, @A, I!HFA, !A3( an& sho5 e+ID(2!( 7 3H@@7, .

4D*

Alley, John $' %#+'%C,AT$"' / CA,C$,AT*#%.