Mass Transfer Processes: Modeling, Computations, and Design

Chapter 6. Diffusion-Dominated Processes and the Film Model

Learning Objectives

After completing this chapter, you will be able to:

• Solve prototype problems involving steady state diffusion.

• Describe how diffusion can cause an associated flow (diffusion-induced convection).

• Account for the effect of convection in diffusion-dominated systems (i.e., stagnant systems).

• Describe the film theory concept of mass transfer and its usefulness in many applications.

• Evaluate how the rate of chemical reaction at a surface is affected by the rate of mass transfer.

• Explain the two-film theory for gas–liquid (or liquid–liquid) mass transfer and calculate the rate of interfacial mass transfer given the bulk composition of the two phases.

This chapter examines ...