ChE 131 WFW Problem Set: Mass Transfer

1. Assume that a solute is released at a constant rate ̇ (moles/time) into the open conical region shown below.
The solute source is located at the origin (cone vertex) and the cone angle is . There is no flux across the
surface defined by = . Determine the steady-state concentration in the conical region.

2. A tank with its top open to the atmosphere contains liquid methanol (MeOH, molecular weight 32g/mol) at the
bottom of the tank. The tank is maintained at 30oC. The diameter of the cylindrical tank is 1.0m, the total
height of the tank is 3.0m, and the liquid level at the bottom of the tank is maintained at 0.5 m.
The gas space inside the tank is stagnant and the MeOH vapors are immediately dispersed once they exit the
tank. At 30oC, the vapor pressure exerted by liquid MeOH is 163 mmHg and at 40oC the MeOH vapour pressure
is 265mmHg. We are concerned that this open tank may be emitting a considerable amount of MeOH vapor.
a) What is the emission rate of MeOH vapor from the tank in units of kg MeOH/day when the tank is at a
temperature of 30oC? State all assumptions and boundary conditions.
b) If the temperature of the tank is raised to 40oC, what is the new methanol emission rate?
/
,
Data: At 298K, , = 1.62 × 10 =
,

3. Oxygen is consumed in body tissues, or by cells maintained in vitro, at a rate which is often nearly independent
of the O2 concentration. As a model for a tissue region or aggregate of cells, consider steady-state O2 diffusion
in a sphere of radius , with zeroth-order consumption of O2. Assume that the O2 concentration at the outer
surface is maintained constant at . Determine the O2 concentration profile.
If and the rate of O2 consumption are sufficiently large, no O2 will reach a central core, defined by < .
For the central core, the assumption of zeroth-order kinetics is no longer valid, because no O2 is available to
react. Determine when an oxygen-free central core will exist and find an expression for . This situation occurs
in certain solid tumors where, as the tumor grows, the cells in the center are killed by lack of O2.

4. A spherical ball of solid, nonporous naphthalene, a “moth ball”, is suspended in still air. The naphthalene ball
slowly sublimes, releasing the naphthalene into the surrounding air by molecular diffusion-limited process.
Estimate the time required to reduce the diameter from 2 to 0.5 cm when the surrounding air is at 347 K and
1 atm. Naphthalene has a solid density of 1.145 g/cm3, a diffusivity in air of 8.19x10-6 m2/s, and exerts a
vapor pressure of 5 Torr at 347 K.

5. Assume that the bimolecular, irreversible reaction + → takes place at steady state in a liquid film of
thickness . As shown below, reactant A is introduced at = 0 and reactant B at = . The liquid solution is
dilute with respect to solutes A, B and C. The volumetric rate of formation of C is given by = , where
is the second-order, homogeneous rate constant.
If the reaction kinetics are sufficiently fast, A and B cannot coexist in the liquid. In the limit → ∞, the reaction
occur at a plane = , which forms the boundary between the part of the film that contains A (but not B) and
the part that contains B (but not A). Determine , ( ), ( ), ( ) and the reaction rate. Are the
concentration gradients continuous or discontinuous at = ?

≤ ≤ 1−
= = 5.
≤ 0≤
57 hours 4.
≤ 1 for O2-free core 3.
(b) 260.6 g/day 2.
) (
( )= 1.
̇
Answers: