Comparison of Concentration Profiles for Boundary Layers in Absorption with Chemical Reaction Processes

Abstract

An analysis of five different systems of absorption-with-chemical-reaction in gas-liquid reactors, commonly encountered in various industrial processes, is presented. To analyze the interphase mass transfer from gas to liquid, the rate limiting parameters and the concentrations at the gas-liquid interface were determined on the basis of pertinent theories. The calculations presented, are based on the Whitman theory for gas and liquid phase mass transfer coefficients and Henry equilibrium constants. The necessary diffusion coefficients were calculated from existing correlations, and the corresponding chemical reaction rate constants were obtained from the literature, assuming pseudo first order chemical reaction. The process parameters required (pressure, temperature, and the gas-liquid contact time) were within the values that occur in industrial processes. The results presented, are the concentration profiles in the boundary layers for the systems studied, calculated and graphically presented, together with the gas and liquid film thicknesses and Hatta numbers, obtained from calculations for the liquid phase mass transfer. The results may contribute to a better understanding of the absorption-with-chemical-reaction processes in industrial plants, thus lowering the operational costs of these processes and alleviating the ecological problems of existing technologies.