Assignment # 02

ChE-710 Transport Processes in Environmental Engineering

Question # 01:
What volume (μL) of benzene (chemical B) should be injected into a 55-ml test tub
containing 25 mL of water to obtain a 10-4 M concentration of benzene in the liquid phase?
Benzene is very volatile and has a Henry's law constant of 5.49 x 10-3 atm m3 mol-1, a density
of 0.8787 g cm-3, and a molecular weight of 78.
Question # 02:
An Arnold cell is to be operated as a pseudo-steady-state cell to determine the gas diffusivity
of benzene in air at 308 K and 1.0 atm. The 20-cm-long tube, with an inner diameter of 1.0
cm, is initially loaded with liquid benzene to a depth of 1.0 cm from the bottom of the tube.
The tube and the liquid are maintained at a constant temperature of 308 K. At this
temperature, benzene exerts a vapor pressure of 0.195 atm. Air is continually blown over the
top of the tube, removing any of the vaporized benzene vapor; the gas space within the tube is
essentially stagnant. At 308 K, liquid benzene’s density is 0.85 g/cm3.
a. It was determined that 72.0 h were required to completely evaporate the benzene
initially loaded into the tube. Estimate the binary gas-phase diffusion coefficient for
benzene in air using these data.
b. Compare your evaluated diffusivity with the value reported in Appendix 3 in Logan.
What is a possible reason for any difference in these values?

Question # 03:
Consider a pond that initially contains 10 million litters of fresh water. Water containing an
undesirable chemical flow into the pond at the rate of 5 million lit/year, and the mixture in the
pond flows out at the same rate. The concentration γ(t) of chemical in the incoming water
varies periodically with time according to the expression γ(t) = 2 + sin2t g/lit. Construct a
mathematical model of this flow process and determine the amount of chemical in the pond at
any time. Plot the solution and describe in words the effect of the variation in the incoming
concentration. Since the incoming and outgoing flows of water are the same, the amount of
water in the pond remains constant at 107 gal. Let us denote time by t, measured in years, and
the chemical by Q(t), measured in grams.
Question # 04:
A circular tube is filled with still water. The concentration of a chemical at each end of the
tube is maintained at a constant value with the concentration at the bottom being 100 g/cm3
and the concentration at the top being 0 g/cm3. Draw a diagram describing this setup labeling
your axes to show what you are considering as the positive direction. Estimate the magnitude
and direction of mass flux through the tube. The cross-section is A = 1 cm2, and diffusion is
molecular, D = 10-5 cm2/s.

Question # 05:
As part of a water quality study, you have been asked to assess the diffusion of a new
fluorescent dye. To accomplish this, you do a dye study in a laboratory tank (h = 40 cm). You
release 100 g of the dye at a depth of 20 cm (spread evenly over the area of the tank) and
monitor its development over time. Vertical profiles of dye concentration in the tank are
shown in the figure below; the x-axis represents depth and the y-axis represents the reading
on your fluorometer.
(i) Estimate the diffusion coefficient of the dye, D, based on the evolution of the dye cloud.
(ii) Predict at what time the vertical distribution of the dye will be affected by the boundaries
of the tank.

14
13 t=1 day
12
t=4 days
11
10
Concentration of dye

9
8
7
6
5
4
3
2
1
0
0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16 18 20 22 24 26 28 30 32 34 36 38 40
Depth in Tank [cm]

Question # 06:
An infinitely long cylinder with a diameter of 10 cm is filled with a stationary fluid. A mass
input (M = 0.1 g CO2) is introduced instantaneously at t = 0 and uniformly at the center of
the tube (x = 0). Find the time for the CO2 to reach a concentration (mass fraction) of 1 ppm
at x = 50 cm for (i) Molecular diffusion in air, (ii) Molecular diffusion in water. Use
reasonable values for densities and diffusion coefficients stating the temperature and
conditions at which the values you used are valid.
Question # 07:
Environmental Transport Processes by Bruce Logan Chapter 3- Diffusive Transport describes
several techniques for measuring the diffusivity of chemicals in water in section 3.5-
Experimental Determination of Diffusivities and Molecular Size Spectra: Centrifugal
Techniques, Light Scattering Techniques, Capillary Tube Technique, Chromatographic
Technique, Field-Flow Fractionation, Ultrafiltration Techniques. Select one to present in class
on Tuesday October 10 (all students should choose a separate one – topics will be allotted on
a first-come-first-served basis so email your selection to the instructor as soon as you can to
ensure you get your choice). Use the book and any additional resources as you see fit. Try to
include real world applications of the technique. Please upload your presentation slides to
your Dropbox folder on LMS prior to Oct 10.