MASS TRANSFER (PRESENTATION )

GROUP MEMBERS
ZUBAIR CHEEMA MUHAMMAD SALEEM CHOHAN AWAIS SHAFEEQ CONDUCTED BY SIR ADNAN RAZA CH-012 CH-018 CH-045 CH-058

ADSORPTION (INTRODUCTION)

Adsorption is a process that occurs when a gas or liquid solute accumulates on the surface of a solid or a liquid (adsorbent), forming a molecular or atomic film (the adsorbate). It is different from absorption, in which a substance diffuses into a liquid or solid to form a solution. The term sorption encompasses both processes, while desorption is the reverse process. The component removed from a gas or liquid mixture by adsorption can either be a product that is wanted or an impurity. In the latter case, the aim could be to clean exhaust gases. The solid is referred to as the adsorbent and the adsorbed component as the adsorbate. Adsorption requires an interface between phases (solvent and adsorbent), and a driving force must exist for the adsorbate to accumulate on the adsorbent. Electrostatic forces or chemical bonding reactions are examples of the necessary driving force which allows adsorption to occur.

PURPOSE FOR CHEMISORPTION The main objective of coupling mass transfer and chemical reaction is to enhance overall mass transfer rates. Chemical reactions enhance the mass transfer rate, because they take out the diffusing solute in the region of the interface producing a steeper concentration gradient. This has very important implications

CHEMICAL ADSORPTION MAY BE CHOSEN OVER DISTILLATION

when: undesirable reactions occur during distillation; an azeotrope is encountered or when the boiling range of one set of components overlaps the range of another set; throughputs are less than a few tons per day; or corrosion, precipitation, or explosive conditions make distillation impossible.

FACTORS ON WHICH CHEMISORPTION DEPENDS

ENERGETICS & KINETICS:

Chemisorption is also an exothermic process and the enthalpy values are higher (80-240 kJ mol-1) as it involves formation of chemical bonds.However, the activation energy for chemisorption is high and occurs slowly. Hence it is also called activated adsorption. It is practically irreversible.

EFFECT OF PRESSURE:
As depicted by Adsorption Isotherm, with the increases in pressure, adsorption increases up to a certain extent till saturation level is achieved. After saturation level is achieved no more adsorption takes place no matter how high the pressure is applied. The chemisorption is not appreciably affected by small changes in pressure. However, very high pressures are favourable for chemisorption.

 HIGH SPECIFICITY: Chemisorption is highly specific and occurs only if there is some possibility of chemical bonding between adsorbent and adsorbate. E.g. Oxygen is adsorbed on metals due to formation of oxide. SURFACE AREA: Like physisorption, chemisorption also increases with increase of surface area of the adsorbent

Adsorption is accompanied by the evolution of heat, and temperature changes affect the adsorption equilibrium relation and, in some cases, adsorption rate. Thus, especially in gas phase adsorption, the effects of heat generation and heat transfer in adsorbent beds must be taken into account. This is essential in the case of thermal regeneration of exhausted adsorbent using steam or hot inert gases, Adsorption is an exothermic process Adsorption process takes place by adsorbate getting adsorbed on adsorbent .Forces of attraction exist between adsorbate and adsorbent and due to these forces of attraction, heat energy is released. So adsorption is an exothermic process. With the increases in temperature, Chemisorption first increases and then decreases.

THE EFFECT OF TEMPERATURE ON ADSORPTION EQUILIBRIUM

DISSIPATED HEAT
There are only two ways in which the heat of adsorption can be dissipated:
a. by heating up the adsorbent (and the vessel containing it b. by heating up the fluid exiting from the vessel. When a molecule adsorbs from the gas phase, the heat it liberates is perhaps 2 to 3 times larger than the heat of vapourization, while a molecule adsorbing from the liquid phase liberates an amount of heat nearly as great.

When the concentration of adsorbate in the feed is low, say only a few wt% or less, then a large fraction of the heat of adsorption passes out with the effluent stream, and the adsorbent remains close to the temperature of the incoming fluid. When the concentration of the adsorbate is high, say 10% wt or more, a large fraction of heat will be trapped in the bed and cause large temperature increase with time.

For mass transfer involving chemical reactions, in addition to the above considerations, there can be considerable heat effects, interfacial turbulence, interfacial resistance, bulk ow effects, effects of products of reaction are to be taken into consideration.

APPLICATIONS OF CHEMICAL ADSORPTION

The principles of adsoprtion is employed in
In heterogeneous catalysts in gas masks where activated charcoal adsorbs poisonous gases In the refining of petroluem and decoloring cane juices In creating vacuum by adsorbing gases on activated charcoal In chromatography to separate the constituentsof a mixture To control humidity by the absoption of moisture on silica gel In certain titrations to determine the endpoint using an absorbant as indicator e.g Flouroscen

APPLICATIONS OF CHEMICAL ADSORPTION