MASS TRANSFER FUNDAMENTALS

Unsteady State / Transient Diffusion

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 Unsteady State / Transient Diffusion

•Unsteady-state operations, in general, are those in which the operating

conditions at a particular point
change with time
•Unsteady-state mass transfer are those where the concentration at a
given point varies with time
•Most of the industrial mass transfer operations such as gas-absorption,
distillation, extraction, are conducted in the steady-state
• However, during start-up and sometimes during shut down all of them
undergo unsteady-state operation
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 Unsteady State / Transient Diffusion

• Majority of mass transfer operations involve transfer

between two phases one of which is dispersed as thin film
or droplets or bubbles in the other phase
• It has been established that these droplets or bubbles
assume spherical shape in which mass transfer takes place
by transient or unsteady-state molecular diffusion
• Transient diffusion plays very important role in case of
mass transfer in solids
• Some common examples are leaching or adsorption in
packed beds, drying of porous solids, etc.

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 Unsteady State / Transient Diffusion

• For example, during drying of a porous solid bar through one

large surface only, the movement of moisture within the solid is
by unsteady-state diffusion