Mass transfer

How it is used

The theory behind distillation, absorption, extraction, drying and many reactor problems. Engineers talk about mass transfer rate, mass transfer coefficients and whether a process is 'mass-transfer limited'. Usually taught together with heat transfer and fluid flow as transport phenomena.

Example sentences

1. Better gas dispersion improved mass transfer and the hydrogenation finished in half the time.

2. The reaction is fast, so the overall rate is limited by mass transfer, not kinetics.

Common collocations

• mass transfer coefficient
• mass transfer rate
• mass-transfer limited
• interphase mass transfer

Related terms

• diffusionThe movement of molecules from an area of high concentration to an area of low concentration caused by their random motion, without any bulk flow.
• absorptionA separation method in which one or more components of a gas dissolve into a liquid, for example CO2 being removed from gas by an amine solution.
• distillationA way of separating a liquid mixture by boiling it and condensing the vapor, using the fact that the components boil at different temperatures.
• extractionA separation method that uses a solvent to pull a component out of a liquid or solid mixture, based on how much better it dissolves in the solvent.
• rate-limiting stepThe slowest step in a series of steps, such as reaction, diffusion or heat removal, which controls how fast the whole process can go.

More terms: Mass Transfer and Separation Processes

• filtration
• crystallization
• drying
• reflux ratio
• tray