List of top Mass Transfer Questions asked in GATE Chemical Engineering

A simple distillation column separates a binary mixture of A and B. The relative volatility of A with respect to B is 2. The steady-state composition of A in the vapour leaving the 1st, 2nd and 3rd trays in the rectifying section are 94, 90 and 85 mol%, respectively. For ideal trays and constant molal overflow, the reflux-to-distillate ratio is

Alumina particles with an initial moisture content of 5 kg per kg dry solid are dried in a batch dryer. For the first two hours, the measured drying rate is constant at 2 kg m\(^{-2}\) h\(^{-1}\). Thereafter, in the falling-rate period, the rate decreases linearly with the moisture content. The equilibrium moisture content is 0.05 kg per kg dry solid, and the drying area of the particles is 0.5 m\(^2\) per kg dry solid. The total drying time, in hours, to reduce the moisture content to half its initial value is:

Consider a tray-column with a diameter of 120 cm. Each downcomer has a cross-sectional area of 575 cm². For a tray, the percentage of the column cross-sectional area not available for vapor flow due to the downcomers, rounded off to 1 decimal place, is _____.

A gas stream containing 95 mol% CO₂ and 5 mol% ethanol is to be scrubbed with pure water in a counter-current, isothermal absorption column to remove ethanol. The desired composition of ethanol in the exit gas stream is 0.5 mol%. The equilibrium mole fraction of ethanol in the gas phase, \( y^* \), is related to that in the liquid phase, \( x \), as \( y^* = 2x \). Assume CO₂ is insoluble in water and neglect evaporation of water. If the water flow rate is twice the minimum, the mole fraction of ethanol in the spent water is:

Which one of the given statements is correct with reference to gas-liquid contactors for mass transfer applications?

Consider the steady, unidirectional diffusion of a binary mixture of A and B across a vertical slab of dimensions 0.2 m × 0.1 m × 0.02 m as shown in the figure. The total molar concentration of A and B is constant at 100 mol m\(^{-3}\). The mole fraction of A on the left and right faces of the slab are maintained at 0.8 and 0.2, respectively. If the binary diffusion coefficient \( D_{AB} = 1 \times 10^{-5} \) m\(^2\) s\(^{-1}\), the molar flow rate of A in mol s\(^{-1}\), along the horizontal \( x \) direction is: