Transport phenomena notes

Introduction
• Transport phenomena focuses on the following:
Mathematical description of the transportation processes occurring in a
system, that is development of mathematical models by studying a
microscopic region of the system
Determination of profiles from the driving forces in the system
Using empirical correlations to determine transport coefficients
The mechanisms of transfer on a molecular level and resultant rates of
transfer
• The results of transport phenomena are then used to design chemical
engineering equipment
Branches of transport phenomena
• There are 3 branches of transport phenomena:
Fluid flow or fluid dynamics (Momentum transfer)
Heat transfer
Mass transfer
• These processes usually occur simultaneously in many chemical
engineering operations
• The equations that describe these transport processes are closely
related such that analogies exist between the transport processes
Fundamentals of transport phenomena

Where flow quantity can be momentum, heat (energy) or mass/moles

gradient is the driving force
• Fluid flow: (1)
Where µ is the viscosity
Equation 1, which is Newton’s law of viscosity, shows that momentum transfer
arises from velocity gradients
(2)
Where v is the kinematic viscosity or momentum diffusivity
is the momentum per unit volume
Fundamentals of transport phenomena
(cont’d)
• Heat transfer: (3)
Where k is the thermal conductivity
Equation 3, which is Fourier’s law of conduction, shows that heat transfer arises
from temperature gradients
(4)
Where α is the thermal diffusivity
is the heat energy per unit volume
Fundamentals of transport phenomena
(cont’d)
• Mass transfer: (5)
Where is the mass diffusivity or simply diffusivity
is the moles of A per unit volume
Equation 5, which is Fick’s law of diffusion, shows that mass transfer arises from
concentration gradients
• One should be able to see the analogies between equations 1, 3 and 5
• Equations 2, 4 and 5 are also analogous, with the dimensions of each
diffusivity being
• Momentum transfer is a tensor (nine components) whilst mass
transfer and heat transfer are vectors (three components)
Fluid flow
 Laminar and turbulent flow
• Laminar flow is also called streamline flow,
whereby the flow is orderly
• Turbulent flow is chaotic
• Reynolds number is used to classify flow as
either laminar or turbulent
•
• Laminar flow occurs at low velocities thus low Re
• Turbulent flow occurs at high velocities thus high
Re
• As velocity is increased, flow changes from
laminar to turbulent. This means there exists a
Re whereby there is transition from laminar to
turbulent flow. This is called critical Reynolds
number,
Molecular momentum transfer
• Viscosity is a physical property that characterises the resistance to
flow of a fluid
• A fluid that obeys Newton’s law of viscosity is called a Newtonian fluid
• Momentum can be transferred by two modes:
Viscous stresses – arise due to velocity gradients within the fluid
Convection – due to bulk movement of the fluid
• Molecular stresses are the sum of thermodynamic pressure and
viscous stresses. They can be divided into normal stresses and shear
stresses
Summary of molecular momentum flux
tensors
Summary of viscous stresses
Summary of convective momentum flux
tensors
Total momentum flux
• This is the sum of momentum stresses and convective momentum
flux
• The general formula is:
• From the preceding tables summarising the molecular momentum
flux tensors and convective momentum flux tensors, one can easily
come up with a similar table for total momentum flux tensors
Estimation of viscosity of gases at low
densities
• The following equation which uses Lennard-Jones parameters is used:
(6)
Where µ is viscosity in g/cm·s
M is the molecular weight
T is absolute temperature in K
σ is the collision or characteristic diameter in Å
is the collision integral for viscosity and is a function of
• σ and are Lennard-Jones parameters which are determined from Tables E.1 and
E.2 in Appendix E (Transport Phenomena, 2nd edition by Bird, Stewart and
Lightfoot)
• Equation 6 applies mainly for pure monoatomic gases but gives remarkably good
results for potyatomic gases.
Worked example
Question
Compute the viscosity of at 200 K using
Lennard-Jones parameters.

Answer
- Use Equation 6 to calculate viscosity. You need
to determine the value of each parameter.
- Table E.1 helps you determine M, σ and ε/κ.
For , M = 44.01, σ = 3.996 Å and ε/κ = 190 K as
shown.
Worked example (cont’d)
- Calculate κT/ε.

- Table E.2 helps you determine the value of for any

given
From the table, there is no exact value of when is
1.0526. but 1.0526 lies between 1.05 and 1.10. therefore
interpolation is required to find when is 1.0526.
By interpolation:

- With all of the parameters determined, substitute

their values into Equation 6 to obtain:
Equation of continuity
• This is a mathematical representation of the law of conservation of
mass in fluid flow.
Equation of continuity (cont’d)
• Note that: and
• Since velocity is a vector:
• Also
Mass balance

• Collect like terms, divide each term by Δx Δy Δz and let Δx→0, Δy→0,
Δz→0

• This is the general form of the continuity equation. In vector notation:

where and
Equation of continuity (cont’d)
• For an incompressible fluid (most liquids), density is constant

• Hence
• In vector notation:
Momentum balance
• This is based on the law of conservation of momentum
Momentum balance (cont’d)
• We will consider the x-component of momentum balance

• We will assume that only gravitational force is acting on the system,

whereby
x-component of momentum balance

• Collect like terms, divide each term by Δx Δy Δz and let Δx→0, Δy→0,
Δz→0
(7)
Navier-Stokes equation
• Fluid has constant density and viscosity
• The Navier-Stokes equation is derived from the momentum balance
Analysing each term
:

:
Navier-Stokes equation (cont’d)
:

• Substitute each term into Equation 7 and group like terms

Since density is constant: (Equation of continuity) and the equation

reduces to:
(8)
Navier-Stokes equation (cont’d)
• Analysing each term of
:

:
Navier-Stokes equation (cont’d)
:

Adding and simplifying, we obtain:

0
Navier-Stokes equation (cont’d)
• Simplifying the RHS of Equation 8
Substantial derivative is given by:
Where () represents any fluid property eg velocity, pressure
Therefore, the term in the square brackets represents
• The final equation for the x-component is:

• Similar equations can be derived for the y-component and z-

component.
Simplifications to the Navier-Stokes equation
• If fluid acceleration is zero, this means
Therefore Navier-Stokes equation becomes:

This is called Stoke’s flow equation or Creeping flow equation

• If viscosity is zero, that is inviscid fluid
Navier-Stokes equation becomes:
This is called Euler equation
Applications of momentum balances
• We will look at the following scenarios:
 flow of a falling film
 flow between two stationary, parallel plates
• Two approaches will be used:
 Shell momentum balances
 Navier-Stokes equation
In these approaches, appropriate boundary conditions will be applied to evaluate integration
constants.
• The objective is to determine the velocity profile which allows calculation of:
 maximum velocity
 average velocity
 Reynolds number
 mass flow rate
Boundary conditions
1. At solid-fluid interfaces, the fluid velocity equals the velocity with which the solid
surface is moving. This statement is applied to both the tangential and normal
components of the velocity vector. The equality of the tangential components is
referred to as the “no-slip condition”
2. At a liquid-liquid interfacial plane of constant x, the tangential velocity components
and are continuous through the interface (the “no-slip condition”) as are also the
molecular stress tensor components , and
3. At a liquid-gas interfacial plane of constant x, the stress tensor components and are
taken to be zero, provided that the gas-side velocity gradient is not too large.
4. For symmetric flow in the x-direction, the plane of symmetry is a ‘boundary’. At this
location, which is the centre line, the velocity profile goes through a maximum such
that:
Flow of a falling film using shell momentum
balances
Question
What is the velocity profile in a
wide, thin film of liquid that runs
steadily down an inclined plane
under the force of gravity? The fluid
has a constant density and viscosity.
The length of the plane is L, width is
W and film thickness is δ and the
angle of inclination from the vertical
is β.
Flow of a falling film using shell momentum
balances (cont’d)
Answer
• Make assumptions that simplify the problem
Assumptions
• Flow is fully developed such that
• Since L and W >>> δ, flow is unidirectional in the z-direction such that
and
• . This is due to pressure being constant along the free liquid surface.
 Flow of a falling film using shell momentum
balances (cont’d)
• A shell is a small but similar portion of the
whole system that is considered for analysis.
The total z-momentum balance

Collect like terms, divide each term by LWΔx

and let Δx→0
Flow of a falling film using shell momentum
balances (cont’d)
• Analysing each term 0 coz
0 coz

0 coz 0 coz
0 coz

0 coz

Since P is constant along the free liquid surface (z-direction) and doesn’t vary
with z, it means is the same at z = 0 and at z = L. therefore
Flow of a falling film using shell momentum
balances (cont’d)
• The momentum balance thus reduces to:

Separate variables and integrate w.r.t x and apply Boundary Condition 3 (At , to
evaluate constant of integration.

This equation shows the shear stress profile, whereby varies linearly with x
But

Separate variables and integrate w.r.t x and apply Boundary Condition 1 (At , to
evaluate constant of integration.

This equation shows the velocity profile, whereby the variation of with x is parabolic.
Flow of a falling film using shell momentum
balances (cont’d)
• From the velocity profile, the maximum velocity, average velocity,
Reynolds number and mass flow rate can be determined.
• Maximum velocity: occurs when x = 0.

• Average velocity:
Flow of a falling film using shell momentum
balances (cont’d)
• Reynolds number: for falling films,
• Mass flow rate:

NB: The velocity profile can also be calculated from the Equation of
Continuity and Navier-Stokes equation of the z-component using the
same assumptions. You should be able to get the same answer.
Flow between two stationary, parallel plates using
Navier-Stokes equation
Question
An incompressible Newtonian fluid is
confined between two long, wide,
stationary plates. The gap between the
plates is h. A constant negative pressure
gradient is applied in the x-direction.
What is the velocity profile of the flow?
Flow between two stationary, parallel plates using
Navier-Stokes equation (cont’d)
Answer
• Make assumptions to simplify the problem
Assumptions
• We consider flow away from the edges of the plates
• For the plates with length, L along the x-direction and width, W along the z-
direction, L and W >>> h such that flow is unidirectional in the x-direction. This
means and
• Flow is steady, laminar and symmetric on the centre
• Gravity acts in the z-direction (into the page) only
• Velocity profile is 2-dimensional in the x and y direction such that is zero. This
means
NB: The negative pressure gradient applied means the flow is due to pressure
difference whereby the inlet pressure is greater than the outlet pressure
Flow between two stationary, parallel plates
using Navier-Stokes equation (cont’d)
Applying equation of continuity
0 coz 0 coz

[meaning is not a function of x. Hence ]

Navier-Stokes of the x-component

0 coz 0 coz gravity is in 0 coz 0 coz and

z-direction only

Negative and 0 coz 0 coz flow

0 coz
constant is steady
Flow between two stationary, parallel plates using
Navier-Stokes equation (cont’d)
Therefore Navier-Stokes reduces to:

Separate variables and integrate w.r.t y and apply Boundary Condition 4 (At , to
evaluate constant of integration.

Separate variables and integrate w.r.t y and apply Boundary Condition 1 (At or , to
evaluate constant of integration.

NB: As done in Flow of falling film, you can also find the velocity profile using shell
momentum balances. Also quantities like maximum velocity, average velocity and
mass flow rate can be calculated using the same formulae as used in Flow of falling
film.
Heat transfer
Modes of heat transfer
Heat is generally transferred by 3 modes:
• Conduction:- molecules at higher temperature have a higher energy
and by their vibrations, they transfer this energy to molecules at
lower temperatures. This energy can also be transferred by ‘free’
electrons, especially in metallic solids
• Convection:- heat is transferred by bulk motion and macroscopic
mixing of warmer portions with cooler portions of a fluid
• Radiation:- transfer of energy through space by means of
electromagnetic waves. No physical medium is required for heat
transfer by radiation
Conduction
• Fourier’s law of conduction:
k is constant in all directions for isotropic materials
• Generally solids have high conductivities, liquids have intermediate
conductivities and gases have low conductivities
• Materials with high conductivities are called good conductors of heat
whilst those with fairly low conductivities are called poor conductors
of heat or insulators
Equation for thermal conductivity of gases at
low density
• The following equation which uses Lennard-Jones parameters is used:
(9)
Where k is thermal conductivity in W/m·K
M is the molecular weight
T is absolute temperature in K
σ is the collision or characteristic diameter in Å
is the collision integral for thermal conductivity and is a function of

• σ and are Lennard-Jones parameters which are determined from Tables E.1 and
E.2 in Appendix E (Transport Phenomena, 2nd edition by Bird, Stewart and
Lightfoot), just the same as µ was calculated.
• Equation 9 is applied strictly to monoatomic gases.
Worked example
Question
Compute the thermal conductivity of at 250 K using Lennard-Jones
parameters.

Answer
- Use Equation 9 and follow the same procedure as the one used to
calculate viscosity to obtain:
Convection
• The focus will be on heat transfer between a solid surface and a moving fluid
• General formula:
Where is the heat flux
h is convective heat transfer coefficient
is the temperature of the surface
is the average or bulk temperature of the fluid

• There are two types of heat transfer by convection:

 free convection:- the motion of the fluid results from heat transfer. When a fluid is
heated or cooled, the associated density change and buoyant effect produce a natural
circulation in which the affected fluid moves on its own past the surface. The fluid that
replaces it is similarly affected by the energy transfer hence the process is repeated
 forced convection:- fluid circulation is produced by an external agency eg a pump or
fan
Composite wall problem
• A composite wall is a made up
of different materials
• Two fluids at different
temperatures flow past the
outermost surfaces of the walls
• Heat from the hot fluid is
transferred to the inner surface
by convection, through the
composite wall by conduction
then from the outer surface to
the cold fluid by convection
Composite wall problem (cont’d)
Do a heat balance assuming steady state heat
transfer on a differential volume, WHΔx
• Heat transfer is in one direction, x-direction

Divide each term by WHΔx and let Δx→0

This means is constant for all x, which is equal to

• For steady state conduction, the temperature
profile is linear such that the temperature
gradient is:
Composite wall problem (cont’d)
• Heat transferred to surface at :
• Heat transferred through substance 01:
• Heat transferred through substance 12:
• Heat transferred through substance 23:
• Heat transferred to surface at :
Composite wall problem (cont’d)
• Calculation of overall heat transfer coefficient
It is calculated by considering the overall system, that is:

From the equations in slide 49, make each temperature difference subject of
formula and add these temperature differences to obtain the overall
temperature difference

represents the total resistance to heat transfer, similar to electrical resistors in

series.
Practice question
Do this question on your own.
Answers
(a)
(b)
(c) 0.6 %
(d) Fiberglass insulation (about
90 % of the total resistance)
Heat transfer coefficient correlations
• Empirical correlations are used to calculate convective heat transfer
coefficients
• These correlations contain dimensionless groups
• For natural convection, we will look at:
 flow past a flat plate
 flow past a single sphere
• For forced convection, we will look at:
 flow past a flat plate
 flow past a single sphere
 internal flow in a cylindrical pipe
Dimensionless groups used in heat transfer
correlations
• Nusselt number:
• Reynolds number:
• Prandtl number:
• Peclet number:
• Grashof number: where β is coefficient of thermal expansion, ΔT is
the temperature difference between heated fluid and bulk value
• Rayleigh number:
Natural convection correlations
For natural convection,
• Flow past horizontal plates
 for hot surface facing up or cold surface facing down

 for hot surface facing down or cold surface facing up

NB: the fluid properties are evaluated at film temperature,

L is the ratio of plate surface area to the perimeter
• Flow past single spheres
 where and
As , heat transfer from surface to the surrounding fluid is by conduction (molecular energy
exchange) and
Forced convection correlations
For forced convection,
• External flow parallel to plane surfaces
 laminar flow:
 turbulent flow:
NB: Fluid properties are evaluated at film temperature
As L increases, increases. The flow changes from laminar to turbulent, with a transition region
existing for . Usually a critical Reynolds number, is taken to be the transition from laminar to turbulent
flow
• External flow past single spheres
Examples are falling drops of liquid which are modelled as spheres and flow of gas bubbles in a liquid

NB: fluid properties are evaluated at bulk fluid temperature

• Turbulent internal flow
where n = 0.4 if fluid is heated
n = 0.3 if fluid is cooled
NB: Fluid properties are evaluated at bulk fluid temperature
and
Solving forced convection problems
The general steps are as follows:
• Step 1: Write down the equation of heat flux due to convection and observe the
terms that are unknown (usually it is the heat flux and heat transfer coefficient)
• Step 2: Write down the correct correlation for the given scenario
• Step 3: If fluid properties (µ, ρ, k and ) are not given, determine them from
tables of the respective fluid (Physical Properties of Gases and Liquids) at the
correct temperature ( or )
• Step 4: Calculate the dimensionless groups and substitute into the correlation
to calculate the Nusselt number
• Step 5: Calculate the heat transfer coefficient from Nusselt number and
substitute it into the heat flux equation
Practice question
A solid sphere 1 cm in diameter is placed in an otherwise undisturbed
air stream which approaches at a velocity of 35 m/s, a pressure of 1
atm and temperature of 40 . The sphere surface is maintained at a
temperature of 90 by means of an imbedded electric heating coil.
What must be the rate of electrical heating in kW to maintain the
stated conditions?
Mass transfer
Molecular mass transfer
• Fick’s law:
• Fick’s law represents the diffusion flux of component A in a mixture of other
components in the mixture. Hence is the mass diffusivity or diffusion coefficient
of A diffusing into B where B represents mixture of all components except
component A
• mass transfer can be in terms of mass concentration or molar concentration
• Mass concentration, also known as density:
• Mass fraction of A:
• Molar concentration:
• Molar concentration of A:
for ideal gas:
Molecular mass transfer
• Mole fraction of A in liquid or solid phase:
• Mole fraction of A in gas phase:
In a multicomponent system, the species, due to random motion, move
at different velocities
• Mass average velocity:
• Molar average velocity:
• Diffusion velocity: velocity of a particular species relative to the mass
or molar average velocity
hence
Molecular mass transfer
Mass is transferred simultaneously by two means:
 due to concentration gradients as postulated by Fick
 by concentration variations between two or more locations which results in
density differences thus inducing convection (bulk motion)

For a binary system with components A and B:

Molecular mass transfer

But where N is the molar flux

Question
Prove that for a binary mixture of gases .
Estimation of diffusion coefficient for non-
polar, non-reacting gaseous molecules
Where is diffusivity in
is absolute temperature in K
is the molecular weight of A
is the molecular weight of B
is total pressure in atm
is a function of
is the Boltzmann constant ergs/K
which is energy of molecular interaction in ergs
which is collision diameter in Å
The equation shows that for a gas, and
Worked example
Diffusion examples
• Diffusion through stagnant gas film
• Equimolar counter diffusion
• Diffusion with heterogenous chemical reaction
In all these examples, the objective is to determine the concentration
profile and diffusion rates
Diffusion through stagnant gas film
As liquid A vapourises, the vapour diffuses into the gas phase.
Applications: Gas Absorption, Humidification
Assumptions
• Gas B has negligible solubility in liquid A
• B is chemically inert to A
• The diffusion process is steady
Do a component A mole balance on a differential height Δz

Divide each term by S·Δz and let Δz→0

(meaning is constant)
Diffusion through stagnant gas film (cont’d)
But
From the assumptions made, . then make the subject of the formula.
Boundary conditions: at ,
at ,
Determination of molar flux

Separate variables, integrate with the limits given by the Boundary

conditions to obtain:
Determination of concentration profile
where

Integrate to obtain: where is a constant

Separate variables, integrate and apply boundary conditions to obtain:
Equimolar counter diffusion
• The fluxes of A and B are equal in magnitude but have opposite directions. This
means:
• Application is distillation of components whose molar latent heat of
vapourisation are essentially equal
• For steady state mass transfer of A in the z-direction without chemical reaction,
the general mole balance reduces to:
(meaning is constant)
• Since , for equimolar counter diffusion, this reduces to:

• Boundary conditions: at ,
at ,
Equimolar counter diffusion (cont’d)
Determination of molar flux and concentration profile
• Do the same procedure as the one done in “diffusion through
stagnant gas film” and come up with respective equations.
Diffusion with heterogenous chemical reaction
• Examples are fluid reactions catalysed by solids
and fluid-solid reactions
• We will consider this dimerization reaction
catalyse by a solid:

• Between the bulk of the gas and the solid

particle, there exists a stagnant gas film through
which gaseous molecules diffuse
• We will consider the following reaction
mechanism:
1. Diffusion of reactant molecules of A from the
bulk of the gas, through the gas film to the solid
surface (slow step)
2. Reaction on the catalyst surface to form the
product (instantaneous)
3. Diffusion of product molecules of B from the
solid surface, through the gas film to the bulk of
the gas
Diffusion with heterogenous chemical
reaction (cont’d)
Assumptions
• The gas film is isothermal
• Diffusion of both reactant and products is unidirectional
• The process is steady state
According to the stoichiometry of the reaction, 2 moles of A have to diffuse,
react and form 1 mole of B, which diffuses in the opposite direction as A. this
is a counter diffusion case where:

Boundary conditions: at ,
at ,
Diffusion with heterogenous chemical
reaction (cont’d)
Determination of molar flux and concentration profile
• Do the same procedure as in diffusion through a stagnant gas film and
obtain the following equations
Molar flux:
Concentration profile:
Convective mass transfer
• Involves transfer of material:
 between a boundary surface and a moving fluid
 between 2 immiscible moving fluids separated by a mobile interface
• General formula for molar flux by convection

Where is the convective mass transfer coefficient

is the concentration of A on the boundary surface
is the concentration of A in the bulk of the moving fluid
Convective mass transfer coefficients

is the mass transfer coefficient in terms of mole fractions and is equal to

is the mass transfer coefficient in terms of partial pressures for ideal gases and is
equal to

Therefore
Mass transfer coefficient correlations
• Empirical correlations are used to calculate convective mass transfer
coefficients
• These correlations contain dimensionless groups
• The correlations are analogous to those of heat transfer
• For forced convection, we will look at:
 flow past a flat plate
 flow past a single sphere
 internal flow in a cylindrical pipe
Dimensionless groups used in mass transfer
correlations
• Sherwood number: (analogous with )
• Reynolds number:
• Schmidt number: (analogous with )
• Peclet number for mass transfer:
External flow parallel to plane surfaces

Laminar flow:

Turbulent flow:

NB: Fluid properties are evaluated at the operating temperature

Critical Reynolds number, which denotes transition from laminar to turbulent
flow is :
External flow past single spheres

Valid for ;
Effects of natural convection are negligible
NB: Fluid properties are evaluated at film temperature
If there is no forced convection, , hence mass transfer from the sphere
to the bulk main stream would be by molecular diffusion.
Internal flow through pipes

Valid for liquids under the following conditions

and
Re and Sc are evaluated at the bulk conditions of liquid inside the pipe
Solving convective mass transfer problems
The general steps are as follows:
• Step 1: Write down the equation of molar flux due to convection and
observe the terms that are unknown (usually it is the molar flux and
mass transfer coefficient)
• Step 2: Write down the correct correlation for the given scenario
• Step 3: If fluid properties (µ, ρ and ) are not given, determine them from
tables of the respective fluid (Physical Properties of Gases and Liquids)
at the correct temperature ( or )
• Step 4: Calculate the dimensionless groups and substitute into the
correlation to calculate the Sherwood number
• Step 5: Calculate the mass transfer coefficient from Sherwood number
and substitute it into the mass flux equation
Practice question
Interphase mass transfer
• Many mass transfer operations involve transfer of material between
two contacting phases
• Examples are:
• Gas phase in contact with a liquid phase (gas absorption)
• Two liquid phases that are immiscible (solvent extraction)
• Liquid phase in contact with a solid phase (leaching)
• The solute is transferred in both phases by convection and the
concentration gradients that exist in both phases are responsible for
mass transfer
• At the interface between the two phases equilibrium exists
Equilibrium relations
• All of our focus in this topic will be on gas phase in contact with a
liquid phase, whereby the gas phase is ideal and liquid phase is ideal
• We will generally look at a 3 component system which contains:
 component A (solute)
 component B (carrier gas)
 component C (liquid solvent)
The components B and C are relatively immiscible in each other but component
A is soluble in both component B and component C
• Mass transfer is from the gas phase to the liquid phase
Equilibrium relations (cont’d)
• Raoult’s law (for ideal liquid at appreciable concentration of A)

Where is the equilibrium partial pressure of A in the gas phase

is the mole fraction of A in the liquid phase
is the vapour pressure of A when pure at equilibrium temperature
• Dalton’s law (for ideal gas)

Where is the equilibrium partial pressure of A in the gas phase

is the mole fraction of A in the gas phase
is the total pressure of the system
• Henry’s law (for ideal, dilute liquid solution)

Where is the equilibrium partial pressure of A in the gas phase

is the Henry’s law constant
is the equilibrium concentration of A in the liquid phase
Henry’s law may come in other forms but the common thing is that it is an equilibrium relation which
ultimately shows the variation of the mole fractions of A in the gas and liquid phases
Two resistance theory
• There are basically 3 steps by which the
solute is transferred:
1. Mass transfer from the bulk conditions of
one phase to the interface
2. Mass transfer across the interface to the
second phase
3. Mass transfer to the bulk conditions of the
second phase
• Assumptions made in this theory
1. The rate of mass transfer between the two
phases is controlled by the rates of diffusion
through the phases on each side of the
interface. In general, these resistances lie in
the thin films. The bulk conditions of both
phases are well mixed such that mass is
transferred in the bulk by convection
currents.
2. No resistance is offered to the transfer of the
diffusing component across the interface.
Two resistance theory (cont’d)
• The curve joining points A, B and F is
the equilibrium curve. This means is
in equilibrium with ; is in equilibrium
with
• Under steady state conditions, the
rate of transfer is constant
• In terms of the individual mass
transfer coefficients:

(gradient of line DB)

• In terms of the overall mass transfer
coefficients:
Two resistance theory (cont’d)
• For dilute solutions, Henry’s law applies such that:

• Relating the individual and overall mass transfer coefficients

Using the equations for individual mass transfer coefficients and Henry’s law,
this equation simplifies to:

• Doing a similar approach for , we obtain:

• Also:
Controlling resistance
• For a solute gas that is highly soluble in the liquid, H is very small such
that . This means the resistance to mass transfer lies in the gas phase.
Such a system is gas-phase controlled.
• For a solute gas that is sparingly soluble in the liquid, H is very large
such that . This means the resistance to mass transfer lies in the liquid
phase. Such a system is liquid-phase controlled.
• For a moderately soluble gas, both films offer an appreciable
resistance to mass transfer hence to determine interfacial
concentrations (point B in Fig 12.2), a straight line with gradient is
drawn from point D to the equilibrium curve.
Controlling resistance (cont’d)
• The contribution of the gas phase to the total resistance is:

• The contribution of the liquid phase to the total resistance is: