Advanced Transport Phenomena theory exam: solutions

Advanced Transport Phenomena Course

Department of Chemical Engineering, Universitat Rovira i Virgili
January 23, 2017

1- Banishment of the apple snail

a) Under the assumption of homogeneous concentration of B in the capsule and CB = 0 at the water
stream boundary we can write a macroscopic balance for the moles of B within the capsule:

d (Vcaps CB ) dCB
= Vcaps = −ANB (1)
dt dt
where Vcaps = πR2 L is the volume of liquid in the capsule, which we assume to be constant, A = πR2
is the cross area of the capsule and the porous material and NB is the molar flux of B through the
porous material. Assuming equimolar counterdiffusion, the molar flux of B through the porous media is
characterized by  
ǫDAB
N B = JB = (CB − 0) (2)
τh
where the tortuosity, τ , will be estimated according to τ = ǫ−1/3 . Substitution of Eq. (2) into Eq. (1)
yields:  
dCB ǫDAB
L =− CB (3)
dt τh
An analytical expression for the evolution of CB in time is therefore obtained by integration of the O.D.E.
(3):    
CB ǫDAB
ln =− t (4)
CB,0 τ hL
b) At the final time, tend , when the downstream concentration is equal to CB,down (tend ) = 10−8 , the
molar flux of B through the porous media will be:
!
V̇
NB (tend ) = CB,down (tend ) (5)
A

Thus, at the depletion time tend the concentration of B in the capsule, CB,end , will be given by Eq. (2):
  !
τh V̇
CB,end = CB,down (tend ) (6)
ǫDAB A

3
CB,end = 1.261 × 10−3 mol/m
and the depletion time is calculated using Eq. (4):
  
CB,0 τ hL
tend = ln (7)
CB,end ǫDAB

tend = 2.05 × 107 s = 237 days

1
2- Falling film on the outer wall of a vertical tube
Note that parts (a), (b) and (c) could be solved in any order; here we are going to follow the most natural
lexicographical order.

a) Under the problem assumptions the Navier–Stokes equations for the flow of liquid within the falling
film reduce to,

r component:
∂p
=0 (8)
∂r
z component:   
1 d dvz ∂p
µ r − + ρgz = 0 (9)
r dr dr ∂z
If we set the origin of the z–axis at the top of the tube we have gz = g, the acceleration of gravity. The
treatment for the pressure, p, is analogous to what we saw for the problem of a falling liquid film on an
inclined flat plate. That is, at the liquid/air interface we have p(R + δ, z) = patm , which together with
Eq. (8) implies ∂p/∂z = 0 everywhere in the film and Eq. (9) can be therefore further simplified into:
  
1 d dvz
µ r = −ρg (10)
r dr dr

The boundary conditions for the second order O.D.E. (10) are:

vz (R) = 0 (11)
dvz
(R + δ) = 0 (12)
dr
Equation (12) is the no–slip condition at the tube wall outer surface whereas Eq. (12) is the free surface
condition at the film/air interface, that is, any momentum exchange between the surrounding air and
the liquid is neglected. Let us integrate once Eq. (10):
 
dvz ρg
r =− r2 + C1 (13)
dr 2µ
 
dvz ρg C1
=− r+ (14)
dr 2µ r
Let us now use Eq. (12) with Eq.(13) to determine the integration constant C1 :
   
ρg 2 ρg
C1 = (R + δ) = a2 R 2 (15)
2µ 2µ

The next step in our deduction is to integrate the O.D.E. (14):

 
ρg
vz = − r2 + C1 ln r + C2 (16)
4µ

We determine the C2 integration constant by applying the B.C. (12) into Eq. (16):
 
ρg
C2 = R2 − C1 ln R (17)
4µ

Finally we just need to introduce Eq. (17) into Eq. (16),

 
ρg  r   ρgR2    r 2  r
R2 − r2 + C1 ln


vz = = 1− + C1 ln (18)
4µ R 4µ R R

and then introduce Eq. (15) into Eq. (18):

ρgR2
   r 2   ρg  r
vz = 1− + a2 R2 ln (19)
4µ R 2µ R

2
 ρgR2
   r 2  r 
vz = 1− + 2a2 ln (20)
4µ R R

b) To determine the mass flow rate of the liquid film we must evaluate the integral of the velocity
profile (20) along the cross–section area:

Z R+δ
Z
Ṁ = ρ vz dA = 2πρ vz rdr (21)
A
R

Let us combine Eqs. (20) and (21) while introducing the dimensionless variable x = r/R:
 Za  Za
ρgR4 πρ2 gR4
 
2 2
1 − x2 + 2a2 ln x xdx



Ṁ = 2πρ 1 − x + 2a ln x xdx = (22)
4µ 2µ
1 1

The evaluation of the definite integral in Eq. (22) is rather straightforward:

Za  2 a
x4
 2
x x x2
1 − x2 + 2a2 ln x xdx = + 2a2


I= − ln x − (23)
2 4 2 4 1
1

a2 a4 a4 1 1 a2 1
+ a4 ln a − 4a2 − 3a4 + 4a4 ln a − 1


I= − − + + = (24)
2 4 2 2 4 2 4
Finally we introduce Eq. (24) into Eq. (22) to obtain the expected result:
 Za
πρ2 gR4 πρ2 gR4
  
2 2
4a2 − 3a4 + 4a4 ln a − 1



Ṁ = 1 − x + 2a ln x xdx = (25)
2µ 8µ
1

c) Let us evaluate the three first derivatives of the f (a) function:

f (a) = 4a2 − 3a4 + 4a4 ln a − 1

(26)

df (a) ′
= f (a) = 8a − 12a3 + 16a3 ln a + 4a3 = 8a − 8a3 + 16a3 ln a



(27)
da
2
d f (a) ′′
= f (a) = 8 − 24a2 + 48a2 ln a + 16a2 = 8 − 8a2 + 48a2 ln a



2
(28)
da
d3 f (a) ′′′
= f (a) = (−16a + 96a ln a + 48a) = (32a + 96a ln a) (29)
da3
′ ′′
Note that f (1) = f (1) = f (1) = 0. The leading term in the Taylor series expansion for f (a) around
a = 1 is therefore 32(a − 1)3/6 and it follows that in the a → 1 limit the mass flow rate of the liquid film
can be estimated as:
 2 4    3 
2πρ2 gR4 2πρ2 gRδ 3
 
πρ gR 16 δ
Ṁ ≈ (a − 1)3 = = (30)
8µ 3 3µ R 3µ