2.

0 OBJECTIVES
The experiment is conducted to determine :
1) the gas diffusion coefficient of acetone.
2) the relationship between diffusion coefficient wth the change in temperature.
3.0 THEORY
The diffusion of vapor A from volatile liquid into another gas can be conveniently
studied by confining a small sample of the liquid in a narrow vertical tube and observing its
rate of evaporation into a stream gas B passed across the top of the tube. Normally, for simple
instructional puroses, gas B is air and vapor A is an organic solvent such as acetone. The
diffusivity of the vapour of the acetone in this experiment can be determined by the
Winkelmanns method. Mass transfer take place in either a gas phase or a liquid phase or in
both simultaneously.
The apparatus consist of a glass capillary tube place in a transparent sided
temperature controlled water bath. A horizontal glass tube is fixed to the upper end of the
capillary tube and air is blown through the small pump included within the unit. A travelling
microscope with sliding vernier scale , is mounted on a rigid stand alongside the thermostatic
bath and is used to measure t in the rate of fall of the air meniscus within capillary.
The relationship between the measured molar mass rate ( N A per unit area) , the
partial pressure gradient and diffusion coefficiect D is deduced from the one dimensional
steady state version of Ficks Law with bulk flow(3) :
CA
NA = D L

CT
C BM

. (A)

CA and CB are the molar concentration of the vapour A and air B respectively.
Where :
m2
D = diffusivity [ s ]

CA = saturation concentration of mass transfer at the interface [

kmol
3
]
m

L = effective distance of mass transfer [m]

CT = total molar concentration

kmol
m3 ]

CBM = logarithmic mean value of CB [

kmol
m3 ]

Consider the process of evaporation of the liquid :

L dL
(
NA = M ) dt

Where , pL = density of liquid [

(B)

kg

m3

kg
M = molecular weight [ kmol ]

Combination of equation A and B :

L
( M

dL
dt

CA
=D( L

CT
) ( C BM )

The L0 is at t = 0, the slope of plotting the graph of

S=(

t
LL0

C BM
L
2 MD ) ( C A C

The diffusivity :
D=

L C BM
2 M C A CT s

against ( L L0 ):

The model for studying this experiment is The SOLTEQ Gaseous Diffusion
Coefficient Apparatus . It consists of water bath tank, capillary tube, air pump and travelling
telescope. In water bath tank, there are some additional parts that help this experiment works
such as heater W1, temperature sensor, temperature controller and level switch. The purpose
of heater W1 is to heat up the water in the water bath to the temperature desired. Temperature
sensor is to measure the temperature by correlating the resistance of the element with the
temperature. Temperature controller is about controlling the temperature following the
experimental temperature and water bath itself can maintain a steady temperature so that
there is no eddy current in the vertical tube and mass transfer takes place from the surface by
molecular diffusion alone. Next, the T-shape vertical capillary tube is used with the air pump
which has been attached to the one end of the T-Tube. The purpose is to allow the
maintenance of a partial pressure difference within the capillary tube between the evaporating
liquid surface and the flowing air stream. The travelling telescope equipped with a vernier
scale is used to measure the level of the acetone meniscus within the capillary.

4.0 APPARATUS

FIGURE 1