WOLFRAM|DEMONSTRATIONS PROJECT

Gas Absorption with a Rapid Chemical Reaction

​
time
2.5
A gas species,
A
, is absorbed by a solvent,
S
, containing a solute,
B
. The gas-liquid interface is at
z=0
. Assume that the liquid phase concentration of
A
at
z=0
is equal to 1 gmol/liter. The concentration of species
B
in the solvent at
t=0
is chosen to be equal to 4 gmol/liter. An instantaneous irreversible chemical reaction takes place between
A
and
B
(
A+B→C
). The species
A
,
B
, and
C
are present in low concentrations and Fick's second law applies. The diffusivities of species
A
and
B
in
S
are taken to be
3.9
-5
10
2
ft
-1
hr
and
1.95
-5
10
2
ft
-1
hr
, respectively. Because the chemical reaction between
A
and
B
is considered as instantaneous, there is an interface parallel to the plane
z=0
where neither
A
nor
B
is present. The position of this interface increases with time as
B
is used up by the chemical reaction. This Demonstration displays the position of this interface and the concentration of species
A
and
B
(shown in red and blue, respectively). The computations of the interface position and the species concentrations are based on an analytical solution derived by Bird et al. (see reference below for details).