1/1/2018 Transport phenomena mass transfer problem solution BSL : Diffusion with homogeneous chemical reaction of a solid sphere

sphere in a liquid

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Transport Phenomena - Mass Transfer Problem :

Diffusion with homogeneous chemical reaction of a solid sphere in a liquid

Problem.
A solid sphere (of radius R and density r) made of substance A (of molecular weight M) is suspended in a liquid B. Solid A
undergoes a first-order homogeneous chemical reaction with rate constant k1''' being slightly soluble in liquid B. Let cA0 be
the molar solubility of A in B, and DAB be the diffusivity of A in B.

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Figure. Diffusion with chemical reaction of sphere in liquid.

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a) Establish the concentration profile for A at steady state (i.e., when the mass diffusion is in exact balance with the
chemical reaction).

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b) Using a quasi-steady-state approach, derive an expression for the time t required for the sphere radius to decrease
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from an initial radius R0 to R.
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Solution.
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Click here for stepwise solution

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a)

Step. Differential equation for diffusion with homogeneous chemical reaction

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The problem involves mass diffusion with homogeneous chemical reaction. At steady state, the equation of continuity for
ar stu

species A in molar quantities simplifies to .NA = RA (where NA is the molar flux of A and RA is the rate of homogeneous
chemical reaction per unit volume). For a first - order homogeneous reaction in spherical coordinates, the species
continuity equation gives
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(1)
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where NAr is the molar flux of A in the radial direction and cA is the molar concentration of A. The above equation can also
be simply obtained by a molar balance for A over a thin spherical shell in the liquid.

Neglecting the convection term and describing the diffusion of A by Fick's law (NAr = - DAB dcA/dr), we get

(2)

where DAB is the diffusivity of A in B.

The differential equation may be rewritten as

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1/1/2018 Transport phenomena mass transfer problem solution BSL : Diffusion with homogeneous chemical reaction of a solid sphere in a liquid

where a = (k1'''/DAB)1/2.

Step. Concentration profile by solving differential equation

The solution of the above ordinary differential equation is of the form:

(4)

The integration constants C1 and C2 are determined using the boundary conditions:

(5)

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(6)

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The first boundary condition states that species A is not present far from the sphere, whereas the second boundary
condition states that cA0 is the concentration at the sphere surface based on the molar solubility of species A in liquid B.

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On substituting the integration constants, the steady-state concentration profile is obtained as
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(7)
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b)
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Step. Expression for time required for decrease in sphere radius

An unsteady - state molar balance on A over the sphere gives

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- rate of moles of A out by diffusion = rate of change of moles of A (due to volume change)
ar stu

(8)
sh is

where r is the sphere density and M is the molecular weight of species A.

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Now, NAR is the molar flux of A at the sphere surface (r = R). A quasi-steady-state approach implies that the sphere radius
is changing slowly enough for the system to be considered at steady state at each moment in time. Therefore, the steady-
state concentration profile (Eq. 7) may be differentiated and NAR obtained from Fick's law can be substituted in Eq. 8.
Thus,

(9)

Integration now gives

(10)

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 1/1/2018 Transport phenomena mass transfer problem solution BSL : Diffusion with homogeneous chemical reaction of a solid sphere in a liquid
Note that

(11)

Using the limits of integration, we get

(12)

On rearranging, the time required for the sphere radius to decrease from R0 to R is finally obtained as

(13)

Related Problems in Transport Phenomena - Mass Transfer :

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Transport Phenomena - Mass Transfer Problem : Oxidation of silicon - a diffusion problem in microelectronics
- Another quasi-steady-state problem with heterogeneous (rather than homogeneous) chemical reaction

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Transport Phenomena - Mass Transfer Problem : Oxygen metabolism of a spherical bacterial aggregate
- Another problem in spherical coordinates with zero order (rather than first order) homogeneous chemical reaction

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