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Temperature-difference-driven mass transfer through the vapor from a cold to a warm liquid
Henning Struchtrup1, Signe Kjelstrup, Dick Bedeaux
1Department of Mechanical Engineering, University of Victoria, Victoria, Canada, BC V8W 3P6. struchtr@uvic.ca
Physical Review. E, Statistical, Nonlinear, and Soft Matter Physics
|September 26, 2012
Summary
Irreversible thermodynamics explains temperature and chemical potential jumps at phase boundaries. This study reveals cold-to-warm mass transfer is possible only with a small heat of evaporation, providing a new mass transfer coefficient criterion.
Area of Science:
- Thermodynamics
- Transport Phenomena
Background:
- Irreversible thermodynamics predicts temperature and chemical potential jumps at phase boundaries.
- These jumps explain phenomena like inverted temperature profiles and cold-to-warm mass transfer.
- Previous work linked inverted temperature profiles to high heat of vaporization.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the conditions for mass transfer from a cold to a warm liquid via vapor.
- To determine the role of the heat of evaporation in this phenomenon.
- To establish a criterion for the mass transfer coefficient.
Main Methods:
- Analysis of thermodynamic laws governing phase transitions.
- Evaluation of interfacial transport phenomena.
- Theoretical derivation of mass transfer conditions.
Main Results:
- Cold-to-warm mass transfer is feasible only when the heat of evaporation is sufficiently small.
- A necessary criterion for the mass transfer coefficient has been established.
- The findings refine the understanding of interfacial transport phenomena.
Conclusions:
- The heat of evaporation critically influences the direction of mass transfer across vapor phases.
- This research provides a quantitative condition for observing cold-to-warm mass transfer.
- The study contributes to the fundamental understanding of non-equilibrium thermodynamics at interfaces.
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