Enhancement of oxygen mass transfer rate in the presence of nanosized particles

Absorption of gases into a liquid is essentially important for two- or three-phase reactions, because the diffusion of a sparingly soluble gas, like oxygen, across a gas-liquid interface generally limits the reaction rates. Using a third, dispersed phase, the mass transfer rate could be significantly increased. The question arises how the absorption rate can be described in the presence of very fine, nanometer size particles or droplets. Its mathematical model should take into account the specific properties of the nanoparticles, e.g. the Brownian motion of particles, its effect on the diffusion of the bulk phase molecules, the mass transfer rate into the nanoparticles, its dependency on the particle size, etc. The mass transfer rate of oxygen, in the presence of nanometer size, organic droplets, has been investigated both experimentally, using organic submicron n-hexadecane droplets, and theoretically. The effect of the Brownian motion of the nanoparticles as well as its effect on the diffusivity in the nanofluid has been discussed. Accordingly, the enhanced diffusion coefficient, due to the convective motion of the continuous liquid phase induced by the moving particles, has been predicted and its effect on the mass transfer enhancement has been calculated using both homogeneous and heterogeneous mathematical models. The predicted data were compared to the measured ones. (C) 2007 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.