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Hence
"
Comments: The molar concentrations of hydrogen in the gas phase, CA,1 and CA,2, differ
from the surface concentrations in the membrane and may be calculated from the ideal gas
equation of state
where " ! 8.314 % 10#2 m3 ! bar/kmol ! K. It follows that CA,1 ! 0.121 kmol/m3 and CA,2 !
0.040 kmol/m3. Even though CA,s2 ) CA,2, hydrogen transport will occur from the membrane
to the gas at pA,2 ! 1 bar. This seemingly anomalous result may be explained by recognizing
that the two concentrations are based on different volumes; in one case the concentration is
per unit volume of the membrane and in the other case it is per unit volume of the adjoining
gas phase. For this reason it is not possible to infer the direction of hydrogen transport from a
simple comparison of the numerical values of CA,s2 and CA,2.
14.5.3 Catalytic Surface Reactions
Many mass transfer problems involve specification of the species flux, rather than the species
concentration, at a surface. One such problem relates to the process of catalysis, which
involves the use of special surfaces to promote heterogeneous chemical reactions. Such a
reaction occurs at the surface of a material, can be viewed as a surface phenomenon, and can
be treated as a boundary condition.6 Often a one-dimensional diffusion analysis may be used
to approximate the performance of a catalytic reactor.
Consider the system of Figure 14.7. A catalytic surface is placed in a gas stream to promote
a heterogeneous chemical reaction involving species A. Assume that the reaction
produces species A at a rate
.N
'A
, which is defined as the molar rate of production per unit
surface area of the catalyst. Once steady-state conditions are reached, the rate of species
transfer from the surface, N'A,x, must equal the surface reaction rate:
(14.63)
It is also assumed that species A leaves the surface as a result of one-dimensional
transfer through a thin film of thickness L and that no reactions occur within the film itself.
The mole fraction of A at x ! L, xA,L, corresponds to conditions in the mainstream of the
mixture and is presumed to be known. Representing the remaining species of the mixture as
a single species B and assuming the medium to be stationary, Equation 14.48a reduces to
d (14.64)
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