CL319 Autumn 2015 Tuesday, 20 October 2015

Mass Transfer

Topic 7 > 7.1 Analysis of mass transfer equipment (contd..)

(7.3 Differential contact equipment: Countercurrent devices (contd..)

Case (iv) General case: curved equilibrium and operating line relations: rigorous approach

If the changes in flow rates cannot be neglected and only one component transfers across the
phases, it is more convenient to express the left side of eq. (7.3) in terms of the flow rate of the
non-transferring component, VS = V (1 y) (say), which is constant throughout the column.

While we have indicated the advantages of using mole ratio co-ordinates in such situations
earlier, it is in general inconvenient to use mole ratios in rate equations which will turn out to be
non-linear in these units. We therefore carry out the development for the transfer units in terms
of mole fraction units below. The final integrals can however be expressed in either units by
Y y
using the simple equations for interconversion: y = and Y = .
1+ Y 1 y

It should however be emphasised that the use of mole ratios is still to be preferred even here, for
the initial steps of finding the minimum L/V ratio and hence the operating L/V ratio, but once this
is done, use of mole fractions has an advantage.

We proceed as follows: the LHS of Eq. (7.15) can be written for this case as:
VS V
d(Vy) = 2
dy = dy (7.23)
(1 y) (1 y)

and similarly for the liquid rates. Choosing to perform height calculations using gas-side
coefficients for purposes of illustration, we therefore write:

V ky0 a
dy = ky a(y yi )Sdz = (y yi )Sdz ....(7.24)
(1 y) (1 y)im

where (1 y)im stands for the log-mean of (1-y) and (1-yi) and appears because of the correction

to the mass transfer coefficients needed for large mass transfer rates. Because of such
concentration-dependence of the mass transfer coefficients, there is no advantage in using
overall coefficients here (except, for obvious reasons when the equilibrium relation is linear and
the ratio of mass transfer coefficients is approximately constant).

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CL319 Autumn 2015 Tuesday, 20 October 2015
Integrating eq. (7.24) for the height of packing required, we get:

ZT
V / S (1 y)im
yb
V / S yb (1 y)im
ZT = dz = 0 dy 0 dy .(7.25)
0 ya
ky a (1 y)(y yi ) ky a ya (1 y)(y yi )

where we have taken advantage of the fact that the ratio of the molar flow rate to the mass
transfer coefficient is likely to vary little across the column even in this case. The height of a
transfer unit can therefore be defined, as before, on the basis of dilute-phase coefficients:
V /S
Hy = , .(7.26)
ky0 a

and the number of transfer units now has the definition:

yb
(1 y)im
Ny = dy .(7.27)
ya
(1 y)(y yi )

a calculation of which requires a numerical integration, the integrand itself requiring the
calculation of interfacial concentrations.
A slight simplification of the form, that allows a direct comparison of the effect of large mass
transfer rates on the number of transfer units, is possible if, in eq. (7.27), one replaces the
logarithmic mean in the numerator of the integrand by the arithmetic mean:
(1 y) + (1 yi ) y yi
(y y)im = (1 y) +
2 2
Substituting and simplifying, we get:

yb
dy 1 1 ya
Ny = + ln ..(7.28)
ya
(y yi ) 2 1 yb

which, when compared with the expression for the number of transfer units in the case of dilute
solutions, shows the effect of large mass transfer rates as a correction provided by the second
term on the right.

Similar expressions can be derived for L-side transfer units for the case in which the L-side
resistance dominates. While expressions for overall transfer units can also be derived (and
Treybal does give these equations), they are in general of limited use in these circumstances as
mentioned earlier.

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Topic 8: Gas absorption and stripping.

While we have developed the subject of analysis of interphase mass transfer equipment in a
general way, all the equations and considerations apply directly to gas absorption, when (a) we
regard phase V as the gas phase and phase L as the liquid phase, and (b) replace the general
statements made about equilibria with those specific to gas solubility in liquids. As to the latter,
the students are advised to revise the topics of ideal solutions, Henrys law, reference substance
plots for obtaining equilibrium information, etc which were covered in CL152 (essential details
are also available in Treybal Chapter 8). Some of the examples in Problem sets 8 and 9 will
make clear the application of the concepts developed in the previous chapter to gas absorption.
In many cases, the operation of gas absorption is followed by that of stripping, which in a
sense is the converse of absorption the objective here would be to recover the solute which
was absorbed into the liquid, by contacting the liquid with a gas, usually at high temperatures so
that the equilibria favour the transfer from liquid to gas. These operations can, of course,
analysed without any change by regarding V as the liquid and L as the gas, but the usual
convention is to regard the denser (liquid) phase as L always (irrespective of the direction of
mass transfer) and not switch symbols. All the constructions described in the previous chapter
will now occur below the equilibrium line consistent with the direction of transfer. Kremser
equations can be derived for this case also, and the equations are given in Ch. 8 of Treybal in
terms of the Stripping factor, which is the reciprocal of the Absorption factor. Since there is no
conceptual novelty about stripping, this will also be illustrated through examples (Problem set 9).
An important class of gas absorption problems is one that involves a reaction of the
absorbed gas in the liquid phase. One uses reactions to (a) reduce the concentration of the gas
so that the driving force is maintained high (b) improve the mass transfer coefficients through the
phenomenon of mass transfer enhancement, and/or (c) to use the gas phase solute as a
reactant to produce a product of interest. The equipment level material balances in these cases
have to account for reaction, and the mass transfer coefficients, for the enhancement due to
reaction. Both will depend on the regime of reaction under the operating conditions.

Topic 9: Gas - Liquid mass transfer equipment

This subject is dealt with in considerable detail in Treybal (Chapter 6) and the student is referred
to go through this chapter to gain an understanding of equipment characteristics. The equipment
can be grouped as follows, and important considerations in every case are (i) hydrodynamics

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which impose restrictions on the gas and liquid flow rates that can be used (or in other words,
determine the equipment diameter in the case of tower equipment), and hence determine the
operating regions in the parameter space (gas vs liquid rates) (ii) correlations for bubble
diameter, gas (and/or liquid) hold-up and interfacial area (iii) equations and procedures for
calculating pressure drop and mechanical power requirements, and (iv) equations for mass
transfer coefficients. These matters are described in the text (Treybal, Ch. 6) for equipment
without significant internals such as bubble columns, mechanically agitated contactors and spray
towers, as well as for Tray towers and packed towers.