Ch8551 Mass Transfer-I Unit I - (Diffusion) C303.1: Department of Chemical Engineering, VSBEC
Ch8551 Mass Transfer-I Unit I - (Diffusion) C303.1: Department of Chemical Engineering, VSBEC
I
CH8551 MASS TRANSFER-I
UNIT I – (DIFFUSION)
C303.1 Students would have knowledge in diffusion and its application in laminar and
turbulent conditions
1. Derive an expression for the steady state diffusion of gas A through a stagnant film of non
diffusing gas B.
3. a) Derive an expression for finding the mass flux of diffusion of A through non diffusing B,
A and B are liquids. (MAY14)
b) What is the equation of continuity and how can Fick’s second law of diffusion be derived
from it?
6. Differentiate between equimolal counter diffusion and diffusion through a stagnant layer.
7. Ammonia gas (A) diffuses through Nitrogen gas (B) under steady state conditions with
Nitrogen non diffusing. The total pressure is 1.013 x 10 5 Pa. and the temp. is 298K. The
diffusion path is 0.15m. The partial pressure of Ammonia at one end is 1.5 x 104 Pa and at
the other end is 5 x 103 Pa. The diffusivity for the mixture at 1.013 x 105 Pa. and 298K is 2.3
x 10-5 m2/sec. Calculate (i) the flux of Ammonia and (ii) the equimolal counter diffusion flux
, assuming that Nitrogen also diffuses.
8. An open circular tank 5m. In dia. contains Benzene at 22 OC exposed to the atm. in such a
way that the liquid is covered with an air film of thickness 0.9 x 10 -2 m. The concentration of
Benzene beyond the film is negligible. If benzene is worth Rs. 80/litre, what is the value of
the loss of benzene from this tank in rupees per day?
Data Given: Vapor pressure of Benzene at 22OC = 100 mm. Hg.
DAB of Benzene at 0OC = 0.77 x 10-5 m2/s. Viscosity of Benzene at 22OC = 0.55 x 10-3
kg / m.s
Specific gravity of Benzene = 0.88 Viscosity of Benzene at 0OC = 0.75 x 10-3 kg / m.s
9. Calculate the rate of diffusion of water vapor from a thin layer of water at the bottom of a
well 6m. in height to dry air flowing over the top of the well. Assume that the entire system
is at 298K and atm. pressure. If the well dia. is 3m., find out the total weight of water
diffused per day from the surface of water in the well. The diffusion coefficient of water
vapor in dry air at 298K and atm. pressure is 0.256x 10 -4 m2/s. Partial pressure of water vapor
at 298K is 0.0323 x 10-4 kg. /m2.
10. The diffusivity of CHCl3 in air was measured by exposing pure CHCl 3 to a stream of air at
25OC and 1 atm. pressure. The liquid density of CHCl 3 at 25OC is 1.485 g./cc. and its vapor
pressure at 25OC = 200 mm. Hg. At time t=0, the liquid CHCl 3 surface was 7.4 cm. from the
top of the tube and after 10 hours the liquid surface had dropped 0.44 cm. If the conc. of
CHCl3 is zero at the top of the tube, calculate the diffusion coefficient of CHCl3 in air.
11. Methane diffuses at steady state through a tube containing helium. At point 1, the partial
pressure of methane is pA1= 55 kPa and at point 2, 0.03 m apart p A2 = 15 kPa. The total
pressure is 101.32 kPa and the temperature is 298 K. At this pressure and temperature, the
value of diffusivity is 6.75 x 10-5 m2/sec.
(i) Calculate the flux of CH4 at steady state for equimolal counter-diffusion.
(ii) Calculate the partial pressure at a point 0.02 m apart from point 1.
13. Ethanol is diffusing through a layer of water of thickness 3mm at 20 0C Diffusivity of alcohol
in water is 0.52x10-9 m2/s. The concentrations on opposite sides of water film are 4% and
10% (by weight ) of alcohol respectively are 0.99 and 0.98 g/cm 3. Assuming that water film
is stagnant estimate (1) the flux of alcohol and (2) concentration of alcohol in the middle of
water film.
15. There are two bulbs connected by a straight tube 0.001 m in diameter and 0.15 m in length.
Initially the bulb at the end 1 contains Nitrogen and the bulb at the end 2 contains hydrogen.
The pressure and temperature are maintained constant at 25 0C and 1 std atm. At a certain
time after allowing the diffusion to occur between the two bulbs, The nitrogen content of the
gas at the end 1 of the tube is 80 mole % and the other end is 25 mole %.If the diffusion
coefficient is 0.784 cm2/s, Determine the rates and direction of transfer of Hydrogen and
Nitrogen. (April 2017)
16. Alcohol vapour is diffusing through a layer of water vapour under equimolar counter
diffusion at 350C
And 1 atm pressure .The molal concentration of alcohol on the two sides of a gas film (water
vapour) 0.3 mm thick are 80% and 10% respectively. Assuming the diffusivity of alcohol
and water vapour be 0.18 cm2/sec.
(i) Calculate the rate of diffusion of alcohol and water vapour in kg/hr through an area of
100 cm2
(ii) If the water vapour layer is stagnant estimate the rate of diffusion of alcohol vapour.
(May 2018)
17. A service attendant accidentally spills 50 litres of gasoline which quickly spreads over a
level surface area 8 m2. Estimate the time required for the gasoline to evaporate into the
stagnant air above the surface of the liquid. The diffusivity of gasoline inair is 0.65 m 3/hr.
The air temperature is 298K>Evaporation may be assumed to take place through a film of air
of 2m thickness. Vapour pressure of gasoline at 298 K is 76 mm Hg. The density of gasoline
is 720 kg/m3 and molecular weight of gasoline is 200. The operation takes place at 1 atm
pressure. (Dec 2018)
18. A tube of small diameter was filled with acetone to a depth of 1.1 cm from the top and
maintained at a temperature of 293 K in a gentle current of air, after 5 hours, the level of the
20. Calculate the rate of diffusion of acetic acid (A) across a film of non diffusing water (B) at
170C, 1mm thick when the concentrations on opposite sides of the film are respectively 9 and
3 weight % acid. The diffusivity of acetic acid in solution is 0.95x10 -9 m2/s. Density of 3 %
acetic acid solution is 1003.2 kg/m3 and that of 9 % acid solution is 1012 kg/m3. (May 2017)
C303.2 Students would have knowledge in mass transfer coefficient and its application
in various theories.
1. What do you understand by the term overall mass transfer coefficient? Give an account for
estimating NTU and HTU.
2. Give an account of the various analogies between mass, heat and momentum transfer.
Explain Reynolds anology in detail (MAY 14)
4. Write short notes on: Higbie’s and Danckwert’s theories of mass transfer.
5. Derive a relation for the overall mass transfer coefficient in terms of the individual film
coefficients and discuss the limiting conditions. (Dec 2018)
8. (i) Explain the method of plotting the equilibrium and operating lines for a gas liquid system.
Using this plot describe how the NTU can be calculated.
(ii) Derive the relationship between individual and overall mass transfer coefficient.
10. The absorption of solute A from a mixture is done in a wetted wall column by a solvent at 1
atm and 250C .The value of mass transfer coefficient is 9x10-4 m/s. At a point the mole
11. An absorption tower operating at 20OC and 1atm. pressure was used to absorb SO 2 from an
air mixture into water. At one point in the equipment, the partial pressure of SO 2 was 30 mm.
Hg. and concentration of the contacting liquid film was 1.2148 Kmol/m 3 of solution. The
individual film mass transfer coefficients at 20OC and 1 atm. were K L = 6.347 kg. moles per
(hr.m2) per (Kg. mole/m3) and KG = 1.44 Kg. moles/hr. m2. atm. The equilibrium data at
20OC are as follows:
Partial Pressure of SO2 0.5 3.2 8.5 2.6 5.9
(mm. Hg.)
Conc. of SO2 (Kmol/m3) 0.306 1.459 2.784 6.215110.909
(i) Evaluate the interfacial comp. CAi and PAi ii) Find KG and KL.
iii) What percentage of overall resistance to mass transfer lies in the gas phase?
14. Explain how mass transfer coefficient is determined using a wetted wall column under
laminar flow conditions. Derive the expression for estimating mass transfer coefficient from
wetted wall column studies. (May 2017)
15. In the dilute concentration region equilibrium data for SO2 distributed between air and water
by a relation pA = 25 xA where pA is partial pressure of SO2 (A) in vapor phase (atm) xA is
mol. fraction of a in liquid phase. For an absorption column operating at 10 atm the bulk
vapor and liquid concentrations at one point in the column are 0.01 and 0.0 respectively. The
mass transfer coefficients are Kx = 10Kmol/m2h(∆x) and Ky=8 Kmol/m2h(∆x) (Dec 2017)
i) Find the overall mass transfer coefficient Kx
ii) Determine the interfacial compositions xAi and yAi
iii) Calculate the molar flux of NA
16. Pure water at 260Cflow at the rate of 5.514 x 10- 7 m3/s through a packed bed benzoic acid
spheres having diameter of 6.375 mm. The total surface area of the spheres in the bed is
0.01198 m2 and void fraction is 0.436.The tower diameter is 0.0667 m. The solubility of
benzoic acid in water at 260C is 2.498x10-2
i) Predict the mass transfer coefficient kc
ii) Calculate the outlet concentration of benzoic acid
Data at 260C
μwater = 0.8718x10-3 Pa.s ρwater= 996.7 Kg/m3 DAB= 1.254 x 10-9 m2/s.
18. In a wetted wall column carbon dioxide is being absorbed from air by water flowing at 2 atm
pressure and 250C. the mass transfer coefficient ky has been estimated to be 6.78 x10-5
kmol/m2s (mole fraction).Calculate the rate of absorption if the partial pressure of carbon
dioxide at the interface is 0.2 atm and the air is pure. Also determine ky and kg (May 2018)
19. In a certain apparatus used for absorption of SO 2 from air by means of water, at one point in
the tower the gas contains 10% SO 2, and it was in contact with a liquid containing 0.4%
SO2 (density 990 kg/m3), the temp. was 50OC and the total pressure atmospheric. Overall
mass transfer coefficient based on gas phase conc. K G = 7.36 x 10-10 kg moles / m2. sec. Of
the total diffusional resistance 47% was in the gas phase and 53% in the liquid phase. The
equilibrium data at 50OC is as follows(May 2017)
Kg. SO2 / 100Kg. water: 0.2 0.3 0.5 0.7
Partial Pressure of SO2 29 46 83 119
(mm. Hg.)
Calculate:
(i)
The overall mass transfer coefficient based on liquid phase conc. KL.
(ii)
The interfacial comp. of both the phases. iii) ka, ky, kc, kx and kL.
C303.3 Students would have knowledge in Humidification and its application in Cooling
tower
2. What are the different types of cooling towers used in industries? Briefly explain them.
(Dec 2017)
3. The temperature of air in a room is 40.2OC/50 OC and the total pressure is 101.3 kPa abs.
The air contains water vapor with a partial pressure PA = 3.74 kPa. Calculate:
(i) the humidity
6 Department of Chemical Engineering, VSBEC
CH8551 Mass Transfer- 2022-2023
I (ii) the saturation humidity and percentage humidity (iii) the percentage relative
humidity (Nov 2014)
.
4. Explain the theory of adiabatic saturation curves and wet bulb temperature theory
(Dec12)
Water is to be cooled in a cooling tower counter currently from 55 OC to 30OC, using air
counter- currently. The entering air is at 20OC and an absolute humidity of 0.007 kg
water / kg dry air. The value of K ya is 0.3 kg/m3.sec and the liquid flow rate is 1500
kg/hr.m2. Estimate the minimum air requirement
and the height of the cooling tower, if 1.3 times the minimum air flow rate is used
Temperature, to OC 20 30 40 50 55
Enthalpy, H' kJ/kg 60 102 166 279 355
a) Explain the principle and theory of a cooling tower.
b) With a neat sketch, explain the operation of a counter-current induced draft
tower.
5. Explain how the height of a cooling tower can be determined.
7. Write short notes on absolute humidity, relative humidity and dew point.
9. Write a note on induced and forced draft cooling tower (NOV 14)
10. Discuss briefly about spray chamber with a neat sketch.(MAY14)(Dec 12)
11. The air supply for a drier has DBT OF 260C and a WBT of 180C.It is heated to 800C by
heating coils and introduced into the drier. In the drier it cools along the adiabatic cooling
line and leaves the drier fully saturated.
i) What is its initial humidity and final humidity?
ii) Calculate the dew point of initial air. How much water will be evaporated per 100m 3 of
entering air? iii)How much heat is needed for 100m3 air 800C?
iv)At what temperature does the air leave the drier
7 Department of Chemical Engineering, VSBEC
CH8551 Mass Transfer- 2022-2023
I
12. Write a note on two industrial cooling towers with a neat sketch (MAY14) (MAY 2015)
13. Derive an equation for finding height of the packed humidification tower. (Dec 2018)
16. Discuss the temperature patterns both in batch and continuous countercurrent adiabatic
dryers. (Dec 2018)
17. Explain the stepwise procedure involved in the design of a cooling tower. (May 2018)
18. Partial pressure of water vapour in a mixture of air-water vapour at a total pressure of
106.6 kPa and a temperature of 600C is 13.3kPa.Express the concenytration of water
vapour in
i) Absolute humidity ii) mole fraction iii) volume fraction iv) relative humidity
v) g water /m3 mixture .
Assume vapour pressure is 20.6 kPa at 600C (May 2018)
1. Explain the mechanism of dying during constant rate and falling rate period. (MAY14)
(Dec 2017)
2. A porous solid is to be batch dried under constant drying conditions. A trial shows that it
requires 6 hours to reduce the moisture content from 30 to 10%. The critical moisture
content is 16% and the equilibrium moisture content is 2.5%. Assuming that the rate of
drying during the falling rate period is proportional to the free moisture content. How
long will it take to dry a sample of the same solid from 35% to 6% under the same drying
conditions? All moisture contents are on a wet basis.
3. With neat diagrams, explain the working of: Spray dryer. (MAY14,17) b) Rotary dryer.
(Dec 12) c) Mechanically agitated dryers
7. 1400 kg. of bone dry granular solid is to be dried under constant drying conditions. From a
moisture content of 0.2 kg water/kg. dry solid to a final value of 0.02 kg. water/kg. dry
solid. The material has an effective area of 0.0616 ,2/kg. dry solid. Calculate the time of
drying
Flux (kg/hr.m2) 1.71 1.71 1.71 1.46 1.29 0.88 0.54 0.376
Moisture content 0.3 0.2 0.14 0.096 0.056 0.046 0.026 0.016
(dry basis)
8. Find an expression for the determination of total time of drying of a wet solid material
under constant drying conditions to a final moisture content well below the critical
moisture content. (May 2018)
9. In a textile mill, wet cloth passes through a hot air drier. The cloth enters with 90%
moisture regain and leaves at 6% moisture regain at a speed of 1.15 m/sec. The width of
the cloth is 120 cm and its density on bone-dry basis is 0.095 kg/m 2. The temperature of
the cloth leaving the drier is 368 K. The ambient
10. Air enters the dryer at 303 K DB and 298 K WB while the hot air leaves the dryer at 393
K DB and 328 K WB. Calculate:
(i) the bone-dry production of the dryer
(ii) the evaporation taking place in the dryer and
(iii) the air circulation rate.
11. A time of 5 hrs. was taken to dry a material from an initial moisture of 30% to a final
moisture of 7%. Critical and equilibrium moisture are found to be 15% and 2%
respectively. How much further time would be required to dry the material to a final
moisture of 4%. All moisture contents are on wet basis
12. Explain about tray dryer and fluidized bed dryer with neat sketches.
13. Discuss the temp. patterns in batch and continuous countercurrent adiabatic dryers.
15. Air is to be cooled and dehumidifies by counter current contact with water in a packed
tower. The tower is to be designed for the following conditions: DBT and WBT ARE
280C and 250C respectively. Flow rate of inlet air 700kg/hr of dry air. Inlet and outlet
temperatures of water are 10 0C and 180C respectively. For the entering air estimate
(1)Humidity (2)% R.H.(3)Dew point and (4)Enthalpy. (May 2017)
18. Explain the classification of dryers and discuss the construction and operation of a spray
drier with neat diagram. (Dec 2017)
19. A batch of the solid for which the following table of data applies is to be dried from 30 to
6 percent moisture under conditions identical to those for which the data is given below.
The initial weight of the wet solid is 400 kg and the drying surface 1sq.m/ 8 kg dry
weight. Determine the time for drying:
X 35 25 20 18 16 14 12 10 9 8 6.4
N 100 30 30 30 26.6 23.9 20.8 18 15 9.7 7
20. The weight of the dry material in the solid is 48kg/m2. Calculate the time required to dry
the material from 25% to 8 % moisture (dry basis)
Data:
X 0.30 0.20 0.18 0.15 0.14 0.11 0.07 0.05
N 1.22 1.22 1.14 0.90 0.80 056 0.22 0.05
Where X is the moisture content in kg per kg dry solid and N is the drying rate in Kg/hm2
(Dec 2018)
21. Explain the effect of operating parameters in drying during constant rate period. (Dec
2017)
22. Discuss briefly about the mechanism of moisture movement in solids during drying. (May
2017)
23. With neat sketch explain the classification of dryers. (Dec 2018)
24. A wet solid is dried from 35 to 8 % moisture in 5 hrs under constant drying condition. The
critical moisture content is 15% and equilibrium moisture content 5 %. All the moisture
contents are reported as percentage on wet basis. Calculate how much longer it would take
25. A plant wishes to dry certain type of fireboard. To determine drying characteristics a
sample of 0.3 x 0.3 m size with edge sealed was suspended from a balance and exposed to
current of hot dry air. Initial moisture content was 75% .The sheet lost weight at the rate
of 1x 10-4 kg/s until the moisture content fell to 60% .It was established that the
equilibrium moisture content was 10 % . The dry mass of sample was 0.90kg .All the
moisture content were on wet basis. Determine the time for drying the sheets from 75% to
20% under same drying conditions. (May 2018)
26. Discuss humidifier and dehumidifiers operations using enthalpy transfer unit concept.
(May 2018)
27. Discuss the various theories on moisture movement in drying a solid. With a neat sketch
explain the construction and working of a rotary dryer. (May 2017)
UNIT V - Crystallization
C303.5 Students would have knowledge in crystallization and its application different
types of crystallizers
5. After crystallization, crystals of NaSO 4.10H2O are obtained .In a particular process, 2000
kg of NaSO4.10H2O are obtained and the mother liquor was found to contain 20%
Na2SO4 (anhydrous) by weight. If the feed solution contained 30% Na 2SO4 (anhydrous)
by weight and 20% of the original water is lost by evaporation, calculate the weight of
the feed solution, weight of the mother liquor left and weight of water evaporated. (Dec
2018)
7. Elucidate the construction and working of Swenson walker crystallizer. (May 2018)
8. How much feed is required when 10,000kg of crystal as FeSO 4.7H2O is produced per
hour by a simple vacuum crystallizer? The feed containing 40 parts of FeSO 4 per 100
parts of total water, enters the crystallizer at 80 0C. The crystallizer vacuum is such that
crystallizer temperature of 300C can be produced.
Data: Saturated solution at 300C contains 30 parts of FeSO 4 per 100 parts of total water
vapour enthalpy is 612 cal/gm (neglect superheat).The enthalpies of saturated solution,
the crystals leaving the crystallizer and feed are -1.33,-50.56,26.002 cal.gm. (May 2018)
9. Explain briefly (1)Yield and purity of crystal (2) Initial and needle breeding. (May 17)
10. A Swenson walker crystallizer is to produce 500kg/hr of FeSO 4.7H2O crystals. The
saturated solution enters the crystallizer at 322K and the slurry leaves at 300K. Cooling
water enters the crystallizer jacket at 288 K leaves at 294 K.The overall heat transfer
coefficient has been estimated to be 200W/m2k.There are 1.2 m2 cooling surface per
meter of crystallizer length. Calculate the cooling water requirement in kg/hr and the
number of crytallizer sections each section being 3 m long. (Dec 2018)
(i) Solubility at 322K and 300K are 14 parts and 70 parts of FeSO4
(ii) Average specific heat of solution is 2.9 KJ/kgK
(iii)Heat of crystallization is 66 KJ/kg