The basic mass transfer equation is:

Mass transfer rate = (area)  (mass transfer coeff.)

 (driving force)

The driving force is the concentration difference that

drives the mass transfer and can be represented as a
difference in mole fracs, a difference in partial
pressures, a difference in concentrations.

1
2
3
The mass transfer coefficient includes the effect of
diffusivity and flow concentrations, and its units depend
upon the units used for the other terms.

For equilibrium-staged separations we are interest in

mass transfer from one phase to another.

AI Rate = AI ky (yAI – yA)

x
yAI
xAI
Rate = AI kx (xA – xAI)
y
ky and kx are the individual mass
transfer coefficients for the vapor
and liquid phases. (mol/cm2s)
4
There are two major problems with these equations.
First, the interfacial area AI between two phases is very
difficult to measure. This problems is avoided by
writing mass transfer equations as

Rate/Volume = kya(yAI – yA)

Rate/Volume = kxa(xA – xAI)

Where a is the interfacial area per unit volume of the

column (m2/m3 or ft2/ft3)
5
Since a is often no easier to measure than AI, we usually measure
and correlate the products kya and kxa.

The second problem is that the interfacial mole fracs are

also very difficult to measure. To avoid this problem, mass
transfer calculations often use a driving force defined in
terms of equilibrium mole fracs.

Rate/Volume = Kya(y*A – yA)

Rate/Volume = Kxa(xA – x*A)

These equations define the overall mass transfer

coefficients Ky and Kx.
6
Where y*A is the vapor mole frac which would be in
equilibrium with bulk liquid of mole frac xA.
x*A is the liquid mole frac in equilibrium with the bulk
vapor of mole frac yA.
The relationship between the overall and individual
coefficients are (no resistance to mass transfer at interface)

1 m 1 1 1 1
   
K y a kxa k y a K x a k x a mk y a

m is the average slope of the equilibrium curve at

xA and xAI.
7
 HTU-NTU Analysis of Packed Distillation Columns

For the differential

xA,dist height dz in the
z = hE yout,in,E xA,in,E rectifying section, the
dz mass transfer rate is
z=0 yA,in,E xA,out,E
yA,out,S F, zA NA a Ac dz =
z = hs
xA,in,S
ky a (yAI –yA) Ac dz
z=0 yA,in,S xA,out,S NA is the flux of A and Ac is the
column cross section area.
(mole/cm2s)
8
xA,bot
The mass transfer rate must also be equal to the changes in
the amount of more volatile component in the liquid and
vapor phases.

NA a Ac dz = V dyA = L dxA
L and V are constant molal flow rates. Combining these
two equations, we obtain
V
dz  dy A
k y aAc  y AI  y A 

Integrating this from z = 0 to z = h, where h is the total

height of the packing in a section, we obtain
y A ,out
V dy A
h
k y aAc 
y A ,in
y AI  y A
9
This equation is often written as

h = HG nG

Where the height of gas phase transfer unit, HG (HTU)

is
V
HG 
k y aAc

And the number of gas phase transfer unit, nG (NTU) is

y A ,out
dy A
nG  
y A ,in
y AI  y A

10
An exact similar analysis can be done in the liquid phase. The
result for each section is
x A ,in
L dx A
h
k x aAc 
x A ,out
x A  xAI

h = HL nL
x A ,in
dx A
HL 
L
k x aAc
nL  
x A ,out
x A  x AI

In order to do the integration to calculate nG and nL we

must relate the interfacial mole fracs yAI and xAI to the
bulk mole fracs yA and xA.
11
 y AI  y A kxa L HG
 
x AI  x A kya V HL

The interfacial mole fracs are in equilibrium and must be on

the equilibrium curve.

The operating line in the rectifying section is

L  L
y A  xA  1   xA,dist
V  V
The operating line in the stripping section is
L  L
yA  xA  1   xA,bot
V  V
Since these operating equations are exactly the same as the
operating equations for staged system, they intersect at the feed
line.
12
 yA yAI
From any point (xA, yA) on the
xAI operating line, draw a line slope
–kxa/kya. The intersection of this
line with the equilibrium curve
gives the interfacial mole fracs
that correspond to yA and xA.

1/(yAI – yA)
xA
The area
under the
After this calculation is done curve is nG.
for a series of points, we can
plot 1/(yAI – yA) vs yA.
yA
13
Calculating the interfacial mole fracs adds extra step to the
calculation. Since it is often desirable to avoid this step, the
overall mass transfer coefficients are often used.

In terms of the overall driving force the mass transfer rate

equation is.

NA a Ac dz = Ky a (y*A – yA) Ac dz = V dyA

Rearranging
V
dz 

K y aAc y A  y A
*
dy A

Integration of this equation over a section the column gives
y A ,out
V dy A
h
K y aAc 
y A ,in
y*A  y A
14
This equation is usually written as

h = HOG nOG
y A ,out
V dy A
H OG 
K y aAc
nOG  
y A ,in
y *A  y A

Exactly the same step can be done in terms of the liquid mole
fracs. The result is

h = HOL nOL
x A ,out
L dxA
H OL 
K x aAc
nOL  
x A ,in
x A  x*A

15
The interfacial mole fracs are in equilibrium and must y AI  y A kxa L HG
be on the equilibrium curve.  
x AI  x A kya V HL

y A ,out
dy A
nOG  
y A ,in
y *A  y A
In terms of the overall driving force
the mass transfer rate
Figure 16-2 Analysis of number of transfer units; (A) determination of equilibrium or interfacial values,
(B) graphical integration of Eq. (16-7) shown for stripping section of Example 16-1

16
 Example 16-1. Distillation in a packed column
We wish to repeat example 4-3, page 124 (distillation of ethanol
and water) except that a column packed with 2-inch metal pall
rings will be used.

y1
QC D, xD  0.80 In the enriching
section HG = 0.4054
L0 D  5 3 m and HL = 0.253 m,
1 L0
p = 1 kg/cm2
and in the stripping
section HG = 0.2835
F  1,000 Optimum Feed Stage m and HL = 0.1067 m.
z E  0.2 N
TF  80 o F
QR
B, xB  0.02

17
The equilibrium and operating lines from Example 4-3 are plotted
as shown

1 In the stripping section,

0.8 from
Feed line
0.6 y AI  y A ka L HG
 x 
yE

Top operating line xAI  xA kya V HL

0.4
0.2 0.2835
Slope  2.04  5.37
0.1067
0 Bottom operating line
0 0.2 0.4 x 0.6 0.8 1
E

Where L V= 2.04 from Example 4-3 or from mass

balances.
18
 1
0.8
Slope = -5.37
0.6
yE

0.4
0.2
R

0
xB

0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1

xE
Lines with a slope = -5.37 are drawn in the figure from
arbitrary points on the stripping section operating line to the
equilibrium curve.

19
Values of yA are on the operating line, while yAI values are on
the equilibrium line. The following table was generated

yAI yA yAI – yA 1/(yAI – yA)

0.354 0.17 0.184 5.44

0.44 0.25 0.19 5.26

0.477 0.306 0.171 5.85

0.512 0.375 0.137 7.30

0.535 0.442 0.093 10.75

20
From this table 1/(yAI – yA) vs. yA is easily plotted, as shown in
Figure 16-2B (p.667). nG is the area under this curve from
yA,in,s = 0.17 to yA,out,s = 0.442. yA,in,s is the vapor mole frac
leaving the partial reboiler. yA,out,s is the vapor mole frac at the
intersection of the operating lines.

The area can be estimated from Simpson’s rule or other

numerical integration schemes.

1/(yAI – yA)
0.272
nG  5.44  4  5.85   10.75  1.79
6
And the height of packing in the stripping is
yA
𝒉𝒔 = 𝑯𝑮,𝒔 𝒏𝑮,𝒔 = 𝟎. 𝟐𝟖𝟑𝟓 𝟏. 𝟕𝟗 = 𝟎. 𝟓𝟎𝟕 𝒎

See the calculation in the enriching section in Text (p.671). 21

22
Mass Transfer Correlations for Packed Towers

Simple Correlations
For HG the following empirical form has been used (Bennett
and Myers, 1982; Greenkorn and Kessler, 1972; Treybal, 1955)

V
HG   aGWGb Scv0.5 WLc
k y aAc
Where WG and WL are the fluxes in lb/hr-ft2
Scv = Schmidt number for vapor = v v Dv
The constants are given in Table 16-3 (p.682)
23
The expression for HL developed by Sherwood and Holloway
(1940) is
d
L  WL 
HL   aL   Sc 0.5

  
L
k x aAc
ScL = Schmidt number for liquid = L L DL

The constants are given in Table 16-3 (p.682)

24
Packing material

25