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Introduction To Transport Phenomena

This document provides an introduction to unit operations involving heat and mass transfer problems with solutions. Part I discusses three heat transfer problems involving calculating time for a brick wall to rise in temperature, determining temperature difference along a heated fuel rod, and sizing a heat exchanger for an evaporation process. Part II discusses three mass transfer problems involving calculating maximum cell concentration in a fermenter given oxygen uptake rates, determining the kLa value in a stirred fermenter, and estimating the diffusivity of mannitol in water. The document provides context and formulations for various heat and mass transfer calculations in chemical engineering unit operations.

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260 views7 pages

Introduction To Transport Phenomena

This document provides an introduction to unit operations involving heat and mass transfer problems with solutions. Part I discusses three heat transfer problems involving calculating time for a brick wall to rise in temperature, determining temperature difference along a heated fuel rod, and sizing a heat exchanger for an evaporation process. Part II discusses three mass transfer problems involving calculating maximum cell concentration in a fermenter given oxygen uptake rates, determining the kLa value in a stirred fermenter, and estimating the diffusivity of mannitol in water. The document provides context and formulations for various heat and mass transfer calculations in chemical engineering unit operations.

Uploaded by

Hatmylife
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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INTRODUCTION TO UNIT OPERATIONS

HEAT AND MASS TRANSFER PROBLEMS WITH SOLUTIONS

Part I. Heat transfer


1. Calculate the time taken for the distant face of a brick wall, of thermal diffusivity D H= 0.0043 cm2/s and
thickness l = 0.45 m, to rise from 295 to 375 K, if the whole wall is initially at a constant temperature of
295 K and the near face is suddenly raised to 900 K and maintained at this temperature. Assume that
all the flow of heat is perpendicular to the faces of the wall and that the distant face is perfectly
insulated [ CITATION JMC99 \l 1033 ] .

2. A fuel channel in a natural uranium reactor is 5 m long and has a heat release of 0.25 MW. If the
thermal conductivity of the uranium is 33 W/mK, what is the temperature difference between the
surface and the centre of the uranium element, assuming that the heat release is uniform along the
rod? [ CITATION JMC99 \l 1033 ] (p.413)

3. Suppose we are trying to concentrate a solution of orange juice from 10% wt solids to 50% wt in a long
tube vertical evaporator. Heat transfer coefficient U = 500 Btu/h-ft 2-°F. To keep the boiling T low
enough, we keep the vapor space under vacuum (p=4 inHg). If the feed is 55,000 lb/hr at 70 °F, what
area of heat exchanger is required and what flowrate of 15 psig stream?[ CITATION Pri01 \l 1033 ]

Solution:
Part II. Mass Transfer

1. A strain of Azotobacter vinelandii is cultured in a 15-m3 stirred fermenter for alginate production.
Under current operating conditions, kLa is 0.17 s21 . The solubility of oxygen in the broth is
approximately 8 3 1023 kg m 23 .
a. The specific rate of oxygen uptake is 12.5 mmol g21 h21 . What is the maximum cell
concentration supported by oxygen transfer in the fermenter? b. The
bacteria suffer growth inhibition after copper sulphate is accidentally added to the fermentation
broth just after the start of the culture. This causes a reduction in the oxygen uptake rate to 3
mmol g21 h21 . What maximum cell concentration can now be supported by oxygen transfer in the
fermenter? [ CITATION PMD13 \l 1033 ]
Solution:
2. A 20-litre stirred fermenter containing Bacillus thuringiensis is used to produce a microbial
insecticide. The oxygen balance method is applied to determine kLa. The fermenter operating
pressure is 150 kPa and the culture temperature is 30C. The oxygen tension in the broth is
measured as 82% using a probe calibrated to 100% in situ using water and air at 30C and 150 kPa.
The solubility of oxygen in the culture fluid is the same as in water. Air is sparged into the vessel;
the inlet gas flow rate measured outside the fermenter at 1 atm pressure and 22C is 0.23 l s21 . The
exit gas from the fermenter contains 20.1% oxygen and has a flow rate of 8.9 l min21 . (a) Calculate
the volumetric rate of oxygen uptake by the culture. (b) What is the value of kLa?[ CITATION
PMD13 \l 1033 ]

Solution:

3. Estimate the value of diffusivity of mannitol liquid (C6H14O6) for diffusion in dilute solution of
water at 20°C [ CITATION Kon06 \l 1033 ].
Bibliography
[1] C. J.M, "Fluid flow, heat transfer and mass transfer," in Coulson and Richardson's chemical engineering ,
British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data , 1999, p. 398, P413, pp. 1-908.

[2] D. C. Prieve, "Transport Phenomena," in Unit operations in Chemical engineering , 2001, p. 29-32, pp. 1-
200.

[3] D. P.M., "Mass Transfer," Bioprocess engineering principles, pp. 379-444, 2013.

[4] C. Konthradaraman, " mass transfer," in Fundamentals of heat and mass transfer, New Age International
(P) Ltd., Publishers, 2006, problem 14.3, pp. 1-727.

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