Mass transfer in laminar flow

Abstract Starting from the differential equation of mass transfer in laminar flow and the appropriate boundary condition, expressions are derived for the rate of mass transfer from (a) a flat plate in a longitudinal fluid stream, (b) a vertical flat plate by natural convection, (c) the forward stagnation point of a sphere in a fluid stream. Only outward mass transfer is considered; this corresponds to blowing outwards from the plate at a rate inversely proportional to the boundary-layer thickness. The Kármán-Pohlhausen-Kroujiline method is used. Where appropriate the Prandtl or Schmidt number has been taken as 0⋅71. The calculations are valid for all mass-transfer processes for which a single diffusion coefficient can be ascribed to the diffusing property, but are particularly relevant to the combustion of liquid fuels, for which the outward mass-transfer rates are so high that important deviations occur from boundary-layer profiles without mass transfer. Despite the great temperature variations present in boundary layers with combustion, mean values for the fluid properties are assumed. In the case of natural convection, it is assumed that the body forces on the fluid in the boundary layer are everywhere zero; this leads to a less serious over-estimate of the buoyancy than the usual assumptions which are valid only for small temperature differences.