Analytical Solution for facilitated transport across a membrane

An analytical expression for the facilitation factor of component A across a liquid membrane is derived in case of an instantaneous reaction A(g)+B(l)AB(l) inside the liquid membrane. The present expression has been derived based on the analytical results of Olander (A.I.Ch.E. J. 6(2) (1960) 233) obtained for the enhancement factor for G–L systems with bulk. The analytical expression for the facilitation factor allows for arbitrary diffusivities of all species involved and does not contain any simplification or approximations. The facilitation factor starts from the value of unity, goes through a maximum and then reduces back to unity as the equilibrium constant is increased. The maximum facilitation factor occurs at higher values of the equilibrium constant as the ratio of the permeate-complex over carrier diffusivity is reduced whereas the maximum facilitation factor occurs at the same value of the equilibrium constant for all values of DA/DB (ratio of the permeate over carrier diffusivity). A similar behavior is seen for the flux of A as a function of the equilibrium constant. The facilitation factor remains constant with changes in the film thickness whereas the flux of A reduces with an increase in the thickness of the film. A linear increase of the facilitation factor and flux of A are seen with increasing initial carrier concentration

Numerical investigation of conjugated heat transfer in a channel with a moving depositing front

This article presents numerical simulations of conjugated heat transfer in a fouled channel with a moving depositing front. The depositing front separating the fluid and the deposit layer is captured using the level-set method. Fluid flow is modeled by the incompressible Navier–Stokes equations. Numerical solution is performed on a fixed mesh using the finite volume method. The effects of Reynolds number and thermal conductivity ratio between the deposit layer and the fluid on local Nusselt number as well as length-averaged Nusselt number are investigated. It is found that heat transfer performance, represented by the local and length-averaged Nusselt number reduces significantly in a fouled channel compared with that in a clean channel. Heat transfer performance decreases with the growth of the deposit layer. Increases in Reynolds, Prandtl numbers both enhance heat transfer. Besides, heat transfer is enhanced when the thermal conductivity ratio between the deposit layer and the fluid is lower than 20 but it decreases when the thermal conductivity ratio is larger than 2

Theoretical and Experimental Study of the Absorption rate of H2S in CuSO4 Solutions. The Effect of Enhancement of Mass Transfer by a Precipitation Reaction

In this paper the desulphurization of gas streams using aqueous copper sulphate (CuSO4) solutions as washing liquor is studied theoretically and experimentally. The desulphurization is accomplished by a precipitation reaction that occurs when sulphide ions and metal ions are brought into contact with each other. Absorption experiments of H2S in aqueous CuSO4 solutions were carried out in a Mechanically Agitated Gas Liquid Reactor. The experiments were conducted at a temperature of 293 K and CuSO4 concentrations between 0.01 and 0.1 M. These experiments showed that the process efficiently removes H2S. Furthermore, the experiments indicate that the absorption of H2S in a CuSO4 solution may typically be considered a mass transfer limited process at, for this type of industrial process, relevant conditions. The extended model developed by Al-Tarazi et al. (2004) has been used to predict the rate of H2S absorption. This model describes the absorption and accompanying precipitation process in terms of, among others, elementary reaction steps, particle nucleation and growth. The results from this extended model and results obtained with a much simpler model, regarding the absorption of H2S in CuSO4 containing aqueous solutions as absorption of a gas accompanied by an instantaneous irreversible reaction were compared with experimental results. From this comparison it appeared that the absorption rate of H2S in a CuSO4 solution can, under certain conditions, be considered as a mass transfer rate controlled process. Under a much wider range of conditions the error that is made by assuming that the absorption process is a mass transfer controlled process, is still within engineering accuracy. Application of the simple model allows for a considerable reduction of the theoretical effort needed for the design of a gas-liquid contacting device, thereby still assuring that the desired gas specification can be met under a wide range of operating conditions. A comparison of the experimental results and the simulated results showed that the extended model gives an under prediction of the H2S absorption rate for the experimental conditions applied

The impact of emotional well-being on long-term recovery and survival in physical illness: a meta-analysis

This meta-analysis synthesized studies on emotional well-being as predictor of the prognosis of physical illness, while in addition evaluating the impact of putative moderators, namely constructs of well-being, health-related outcome, year of publication, follow-up time and methodological quality of the included studies. The search in reference lists and electronic databases (Medline and PsycInfo) identified 17 eligible studies examining the impact of general well-being, positive affect and life satisfaction on recovery and survival in physically ill patients. Meta-analytically combining these studies revealed a Likelihood Ratio of 1.14, indicating a small but significant effect. Higher levels of emotional well-being are beneficial for recovery and survival in physically ill patients. The findings show that emotional well-being predicts long-term prognosis of physical illness. This suggests that enhancement of emotional well-being may improve the prognosis of physical illness, which should be investigated by future research