INTERPHASE MASS

TRANSFER

INTERPHASE MASS TRANSFER:

The process of mass transfer from the bulk of one phase
to the interphase surface and then from the interphase to
the bulk of another phase(mainly, two insoluble phases)is
called interphase mass transfer.
Here mass transfer occurs in each phase because of
concentration gradient till an equilibrium state (i.e.,
chemical potential of the component becomes same for
both the phases) exists at the interface between the
phases.
When a system is in equilibrium, there is no net mass
transfer between the phases.

EQUILIBRIUM:
Consider an example of the gas-absorption operation which
occurs when ammonia is dissolved from an ammonia-air mixture
by liquid water.
Suppose a fixed amount of liquid water is placed in a closed
container together with a gaseous mixture of ammonia and air,
the whole arranged so that the system can be maintained at
constant temperature and pressure.
Since ammonia is very soluble in water, some ammonia
molecules will instantly transfer from the gas into liquid, crossing
the interfacial surface separating the two phases. A portion of the
ammonia molecules escapes back into the gas, at a rate
proportional to their concentration in the liquid.
As more ammonia enters the liquid, with consequent increase in

 At the same time, through the mechanism of diffusion,

the concentrations throughout each phase become
uniform. A dynamic equilibrium now exists, and while
ammonia molecules continue to transfer back and forth
from one phase to other, the net transfer falls to zero.
The concentrations within each phase will no longer
change.

 If additional ammonia is injected into the container, the

existing equilibrium is disturbed. The ammonia molecules
will re-distribute themselves until a new equilibrium is reestablished, with higher concentrations of ammonia in
both gas phase and liquid phase. Such equilibrium
relationship between the concentrations is known as
theequilibrium distribution curve.

The following principles are common to all systems involving the

distribution of substances between two insoluble phases.
At a fixed set of conditions, referring to temperature and pressure,
there exists a set of equilibrium relationships which can be shown
graphically in the form of an equilibrium distribution curve for each
distributed substance by plotting the equilibrium concentrations of
the substance in the two phases against each other.
For a system in equilibrium, there is no net diffusion of the
components between the phases.
For the system not in equilibrium, diffusion of the components
between the phases will occur so as to bring the system to a
condition of equilibrium. If sufficient time prevails, equilibrium
concentrations will actually prevails.

EFFECT OF TEMPERATURE AND PRESSURE ON SOLUBILITY:

As temperature increases,the solubility of gas decreases.
Increased temperature causes an increase in
kinetic energy.The higher kinetic
energy causes more
motion
in molecules which break intermolecular bonds
and escape from solution.
If the pressure is increased, the gas molecules are
"forced" into the solution since this will
best relieve the
pressure that has been applied.

LOCAL TWO PHASE MASS TRANSFER:

Consider the mass transfer of a solute A from the bulk of a gas
phase to the bulk of a liquid phase.
The concentration of A in the main body of the gas is yAG mole
fraction and it falls to YAi at the interface. In the liquid, the
concentration falls from xAi at the interface to xAL in the bulk
liquid.
According to Lews and Whitman, there is no resistance to solute
transfer across the interface separating the phases. Only
diffusional resistances are residing in the fluids.
The equilibrium concentrations yAi and xAi are obtained from the
systems equilibrium distribution curve. This concept has been
called the two-resistance theory.

 In the figure the concentration rise at the interface from

yAi to xAi is not a barrier to diffusion in the direction gas
to liquid. They are equilibrium concentrations and hence
corresponds to equal chemical potential of the
substance A in both phases at interphases.

 For steady state mass transfer, the rate at which A

reaches the interface from the gas must be equal to the
rate at which it diffuses to the bulk liquid, so that no
accumulation or depletion of A at the interface occurs.
Therefore the mass transfer flux of A in terms of mass
transfer film coefficient for each phase can be written
as:
Na = ky(yAG - yAi) = kx(xAi - xAL)
After arranging it can be written as:
(yAG - yAi)/( xAL - xAi) = -kx/ky