_______________________

Last Name, First

CHE425: Problem set #1

1. The gas CO
2
is diffusing at steady state through a tube 0.20 m long having a diameter of
0.01 m and containing N
2
at 298
o
K. The total pressure is constant at 101.32 kPa. The partial
pressure of CO
2
at one end is 456 mmHg and 76 mm Hg at the other end. The diffusivity D
AB

is 1.6710
-5
m
2
/s at 298
o
K. Calculate the flux of CO
2
in cgs and SI units for equimolar
counterdiffusion.

2. Helium and nitrogen gas are contained in a conduit 5 mm in diameter and 0.1 m long at
298
o
K and a uniform constant pressure of 1.0 atm abs. The partial pressure of He at one end
of the tube is 0.060 atm and 0.020 atm at the other end. The diffusivity of Helium in nitrogen
at 298
o
K is 6.8710
-5
m
2
/s. Calculate the following for steady-state equimolar
counterdiffusion.
a) Flux of he in kmol/sm
2
.
b) Flux of N
2
.
c) Partial pressure of He at a point of 0.05 from either end.

3. A long glass capillary tube, of diameter 0.01 cm, is in contact with water at one end and
dry air at the other. Water vapor evaporates at the wet end within the capillary, and the vapor
diffuses through the capillary toward the dry end. How long is required for one gram of water
to evaporate through this system? The vapor pressure of water is 17.5 mmHg at 20
o
C, the
temperature at which the entire system is maintained. Take the diffusivity of water vapor in
air at 20
o
C to be 0.3 cm
2
/s, and assume that the dry air is at a pressure of 760 mmHg. Assume
that the distance from the wet interface within the capillary to the dry end is always 10 cm.
Gas constant R = 82.057 cm
3
atm/(molK)

4.
2
Find the initial evaporation rate of water, in units of
centimeters per second of surface velocity, for the Arnold cell
operating at 1 atm and 25
o
C as shown. The inside diameter of the
tube is 1 mm. Dry air is blow over the top of the tube. The
saturated humidity of water in air at 25
o
C is 0.0189 lb H
2
O/lb dry
air. Diffusivity of water vapor in air at 25
o
C is 0.22 cm
2
/s.


5.
2
A process is carried out under ultrahigh vacuum in a reactor whose walls are a glass tube
of inside diameter 10 cm and wall thickness 1 cm. We do not want H
2
to leak across the
tube wall by diffusion and there by reduce the quality of the vacuum environment for the
process. The diffusivity of H
2
in glass at the process temperature, 700
o
K, is 10
-8
cm
2
/s. The
molar solubility ratio of H
2
in glass is 0.2 (mol/cm
3
) H
2
in glass/(mol/cm
3
) H
2
in air. Suppose
the tube is one meter long, and the end plates and fittings of the tube are impermeable to
hydrogen. Suppose further that at some instant of time the vacuum pump had bought the
system to a pressure of 10
-6
torr. The glass tube is surrounded by atmospheric air, and the
partial pressure of hydrogen in air is 3.810
-4
torr. Estimate the partial pressure of H
2
inside
the glass tube after 1 hour.

Pure water
10 cm
6.
2
A liquid A evaporates at one end of a capillary tube and the vapor diffuses toward the
other end, which is open to a large gas space B that is essentially free of A.
Assume that the gas B is insoluble in liquid A, and work with the following conditions
and properties:
Total pressure P = 1 atm
Vapor pressure of A P
vap
= 550 torr
Temperature T = 25
o
C
Capillary length L = 10 cm
Molecular weights Mw
A
= 100, Mw
B
= 28
Binary diffusivity D
AB
= 0.25 cm
2
/s
a) Find the magnitude of the molar average velocity v
M
.
b) What is the factor by which you would be in error if you assume that y
A
<< 1?
c) Is v
M
constant along the capillary axis? Explain your answer.
d) Is v
m
(the mass average velocity) constant along the capillary axis? Explain your
answer.

7. A water droplet having a diameter of 0.16 mm is suspended in still air at 50
o
C, 1.013210
5

Pa (1 atm), and 30% relative humidity. The droplet temperature can be assumed to be at 50
o
C
and its vapor pressure at 50
o
C is 7.38 kPa.
1) Calculate the initial rate of evaporation of water if D
AB
of water vapor in air is 0.288
cm
2
/s.
2) Determine the time for the water droplet to evaporate completely.

8. A lime (CaO) slurry droplet having a diameter D
d
of 0.20 mm is suspended in a gas
containing SO
2
at 50
o
C, 1.013210
5
Pa (1 atm). The mole fraction of SO
2
in the gas phase is
10
-4
. Rate of diffusion of SO
2
from the gas to the droplet surface is given by

N
s
= k
d
(D
d
2
) c (y
g,s
y
d,s
)

In this equation c is the total gas concentration and k
d
is the mass transfer coefficient for SO
2

in the gas phase given by

k
d
=
2
2
SO gas
d
D
D



Rate of diffusion of SO
2
from the droplet surface into the interior droplet is given by

N
s
= k
L
| (D
d
2
) C
*
SO2


In this equation C
*
SO2
is the equilibrium SO
2
concentration at the droplet surface k
L
| is the
mass transfer coefficient for SO
2
in the liquid phase given by

k
L
| = k
L
2 2
*
lime lime
*
SO SO
1
D C
D C
| |
+
|
|
\ .
, where

k
L
=
2 SO
D
o
and the liquid film thickness at the surface is estimated to be 1 m.
| =
2 2
*
lime lime
*
SO SO
1
D C
D C
| |
+
|
|
\ .
= the enhancement factor of the liquid film coefficient k
L
due
to the very fast reaction of dissolved SO
2
with dissolved lime in the bulk liquid.

The gas- and liquid-phase surface concentrations are related by Henrylaw as follows:

c y
d,s
= HC
*
SO2


The Henrylaw constant for the solubility of SO
2
in water at 50
o
C is given by

H = 0.054
3
3
mol/cm in gas phase
mol/cm in liquid phase


Other data at 50
o
C: Equilibrium concentration of lime, C
*
lime
= 1.3510
-5
mol/cm
3
.
Diffusivity of SO
2
and lime in water: D
lime
= D
SO2
= 210
-5
cm
2
/s. Diffusivity of SO
2
in gas:
D
SO2-gas
= 0.20 cm
2
/s

Estimate the rate of diffusion of SO
2
, N
s
.