TRANSPORT PHENOMENA - Groups H2 and I1

Workshop (Mass Transfer)

1. Oxygen is consumed in body tissues, or by cells maintained in vitro, at a rate which is often nearly
independent of the 2 concentration. As a model for a tissue region or aggregate of cells, consider steadystate 2 diffusion in a sphere of radius , with zeroth-order consumption of 2. Assume that the 2
concentration at the outer surface (= ) is maintained constant at 0. Determine the 2 concentration profile,
().
If and the rate of 2 consumption are sufficiently large, no 2 will reach a central core, defined by <.
For the central core the assumption of zeroth-order kinetics is no longer valid, because no 2 is available to
react- Determine when an oxygen-free central core will exist and find an expression for . This situation
occurs in certain solid tumors where, as the tumor grows, the cells in the center are lulled by lack of 2.
2. It is desired to monitor the pressure in a vessel containing pure fluorine (2), using the gauge arrangement
shown in Figure 1. Because 2 is highly corrosive, a nitrogeno purge is to be used to minimize the exposure
of the gauge to 2. The 2 flux through the tube connecting the gauge and vessel may be adjusted as needed
by varying the 2 pressure in the purge line. Assume that the purge rate is slow enough, and the vessel
large enough, that the amount of 2 in the vessel (at =) remains negligible.
Find an expression for the minimum nitrogen flux which will make the steady-state fluorine flux zero and
which will also keep the mole fraction of fluorine at the gauge below some specified value (i.e., (0)).
Assume that transport in the tube is one-dimensional.

3. Assume that a solute is released at a constant rate (moles/time) into the open conical region shown in
Figure 2. The solute source is located at the origin (cone vertex) and the cone angle in 0. There is no flux
across the surface defined by =0. Determine the steady-state concentration in the conical region.

4. The enzyme-catalyzed reaction is to be carried out under steady-state conditions with the enzyme
immobilized in a membrane. The membrane has two purposes: to prevent loss of the expensive enzyme,
and to help separate any residual reactant from the product. Consider the arrangement shown in Figure 3.
One surface of the membrane (at =) has a thin coating that permits rapid diffusion of a from the feed
stream to the membrane, such that ()0. A key feature of the system is that the coating restricts (but
does not eliminate) the passage of B. With negligible B present in the feed stream, the flux of B across the
coating is described by:
()=()
Where, is the permeability coefficient of the coating for B (similar to a mass transfer coefficient). For
simplicity, assume that the concentrations of A and B in the product stream are maintained at low levels and
that the diffusivities in the membrane are equal, ==. The first-order, homogeneous reaction rate
constant in the membranes is .

a. Determine state the equations governing the concentrations of reactant and product in the
membrane.
b. Determine the y concentration profile, () and ().