Module 1 :
Lecture 6:
Binary Mixture
NPTEL,IITKharagpur,Prof.SaikatChakraborty,DepartmentofChemicalEngineering
The molecular transport of one substance relative to another is known as diffusion (also known
as mass diffusion or concentration diffusion). Lets assume that species A is one component
and species B, is another. Mass balance on component A over a fixed volume, xyz is
given as,
xyz
A
t
[ ( ) ]
= ((n Ax )x (n Ax )x + x )yz + (n Ay )y (n Ay )y + y xz + ((n Az )z (nAz )z + z )xy +
+ rA xyz
(3.21)
NPTEL,IITKharagpur,Prof.SaikatChakraborty,DepartmentofChemicalEngineering
Dividing by xyz and taking the limit as x,y and z 0 the above mass balance gives:
A n Ax n Ay n Az
= + + + rA
t x y z (3.22)
or
A
+ ( n A ) = rA (3.23)
t
Units of rA : gm/cm3-s
Equation (3.23) is the is the species balance equation in generalized vector-tensor notation for a
component A in a binary system and is expressed in terms of mass concentration A and mass
by n A = A U A = w A (n A + n B ) D AB w A = w AU D w = U D w
AB A A AB A
(3.24)
Here wA is the Mass fraction of component A, DAB is the binary Diffusion Coefficient and U is
A
+ A U = D AB w A + rA (3.25)
t
NPTEL,IITKharagpur,Prof.SaikatChakraborty,DepartmentofChemicalEngineering
Special case
U = 0
(3.26)
Dividing equation (3.26) by MA we get the equation in molar concentration (see equation (3.1))
as
c A
+ (U c A ) = D AB 2 c A + R A (3.27))
t
Equation (3.27) holds for a binary mixture, with , D AB constant. This equation is often used for
Dc A
= D AB 2 c A + R A
Dt (3.28)
which is directly analogous to equation (see equation (2.23), discussed in derivation of Energy
NPTEL,IITKharagpur,Prof.SaikatChakraborty,DepartmentofChemicalEngineering
DT k Q
= 2T +
Dt c cp
p
(3.29)
In molar units, the mass balance of A in the binary mixture can be written as
c A
+ ( N A ) = R A (3.30)
t
N A = x A ( N A + N B ) c DAB x A
*
= x A cU cD AB x A
*
= c A U c DAB x A (3.31)
c A
t
( )
+ U c A = (cDAB x A ) + R A
*
(3.32)
c A
t
( ) ( )
+ c A U + U * c = DAB 2 c A + RA
*
A
(3.33)
NPTEL,IITKharagpur,Prof.SaikatChakraborty,DepartmentofChemicalEngineering
*
If in addition A is in dilute concentration in solvent B, then U U and equation (3.32)
becomes
c A
+ (U c A ) = (cDAB x A ) + R A (3.34)
t
In Mass Transfer studies we often encountered with problems that needs to be solved by
assigning some boundary conditions. Some of these boundary conditions are discussed below.
II. Constant Surface Mass Flux: Here dependant variable (c) and its normal derivative are
specified. Figure shown below illustrates the surface condition. D is the mass
NPTEL,IITKharagpur,Prof.SaikatChakraborty,DepartmentofChemicalEngineering
III. Here, Mass coefficient (Kc) is prescribed at the surface. In this, dependant variable (c)
and its normal derivative are connected by an algebraic equation. This type of
boundary condition is known as Robin Mixed B.C. This is an example of flux type
IV. Given concentration (may be a function of time) or given flux at a surface. It can be
given as
c
= 0 (for steady state condition)
t
V. Here normal derivative of the dependant variable is specified at the plane surface or
at the wall
NPTEL,IITKharagpur,Prof.SaikatChakraborty,DepartmentofChemicalEngineering
VI. In this type, normal derivative of the dependant variable is defined for cylindrical or
spherical geometry.
NPTEL,IITKharagpur,Prof.SaikatChakraborty,DepartmentofChemicalEngineering