What are analogous dimensionless numbers for momentum, heat, mass transfer
Why dimensionless numbers are useful?
Dimensionless numbers reduce the number of variables that describe a system, thereby reducing the amount of
experimental data required to make correlations of physical phenomena to scalable systems. Dimensionless numbers
in many fields of engineering are collections of variables that provide order-of-magnitude estimates about the
behavior of a system.
What do analogous numbers mean?
Analogy is the process of association between situations from one domain (source) to another (target) made possible
through the establishment of relations or representations. Some of the dimensionless numbers are known as
analogous numbers because of their analogy of association between situations in different unit operations.
Typical analogous numbers for momentum, heat, mass transfer
For momentum, heat, mass transfer there are few dimensionless numbers that describe the nature of flow like,
Reynold's number Nusselt number, Prandtl number, Schmidt number, Stanton number, Sherwood number which are
analogous.
Sherwood number vs Nusselt number
Sherwood number (Sh): In simple words, Sherwood number represents the ratio between mass transfer by
convection and mass transfer by diffusion It is the mass transfer equivalent of Nusselt Number, Nu, and is a function
of Reynolds Number, Re, and Schmidt Number, Sc.
Sh = h/[D/L] = Convective mass transfer rate/Diffusion rate, Where: L is a characteristic length (m)
D is mass diffusivity (m2.s−1), h is the convective mass transfer film coefficient (m.s−1)
The ratio of molecular mass transport resistance to the convective mass transport resistance of the fluid is generally
known as the Sherwood number, Sh. Sherwood number increases as convective mass transfer film coefficient, h
increases, and reduces as mass diffusivity rate increases.
Schmidt number (Sc): The Schmidt number is the ratio of the shear component for diffusivity viscosity/density to the
diffusivity for mass transfer D. It physically relates the relative thickness of the hydrodynamic layer and mass-transfer
boundary layer.
Sc = v/D = mu/[rho x D] = viscous diffusion rate / molecular [ mass diffusion rate] , where: v is the kinematic viscosity
or mu/[rho x D], D is the mass diffusivity [m2/s], mu is the dynamic viscosity of the fluid[ Pa.s], rho is the density of
fluid [kg/m3]
Sherwood number and Schmidt numbers both deal with the diffusion rate. Another number which deals with
diffusion rate is Reynolds number[Re]
The Reynolds number is the ratio of inertial forces to viscous forces. The Reynolds number is a dimensionless number
used to categorize the fluids systems in which the effect of viscosity is important in controlling the velocities or the
flow pattern of a fluid. Mathematically, the Reynolds number, Re = [D x u x rho]/mu, D is the diameter of the pipe, u
is velocity, rho is density and mu is viscosity. Re number measures molecular diffusion across layers in flowing fluid.
Therefore, Sh [Sherwood number] = f (Re . Sc)
Sh number was combined with Re and Sc [ Schmidt numbers by Froessling equation
Sh = 2 + 0.552 Re^1/2 x Sc^1/3
Nusselt number: In fluid dynamics, the Nusselt number is the ratio of convective to conductive heat transfer at a
boundary in a fluid. Convection includes both advection and diffusion. Advection is the transport of a substance or
quantity by bulk motion.
Since, Nusselt number Nu, in heat transfer,
Nu = 2+ 0.6 Re^1/2 x Sc^1/3 , 0 is equal or < than Re < than 200, 0 is equal < than Pr [ Prandtl number] < 250
This correlation can be made into a mass transfer correlation using the above procedure, which yields:
Sh = 2+ 0.6 Re^1/2 x Sc^1/3 , 0 is equal or < than Re < than 200, 0 is equal < than Pr [ Prandtl number] < 250
Thus, Sh number of mass transfer is analogous to the Nusselt number Nu, in heat transfer
Schmidt number vs Prandtl Number:
Schmidt number is the mass transfer equivalent of Prandtl Number For gases, Sc and Pr have similar values (≈0.7)
and this is used as the basis for simple heat and mass transfer analogies. Schmidt number is the mass transfer
equivalent of Prandtl Number, as explained above,
Schmidt number (Sc): The Schmidt number is the ratio of the shear component for diffusivity viscosity/density to the
diffusivity for mass transfer D. It physically relates the relative thickness of the hydrodynamic layer and mass-transfer
boundary layer. Schmidt number corresponds to the Prandtl number in heat transfer. Schmidt's number of unity
indicates that momentum and mass transfer by diffusion are comparable, and velocity and concentration boundary
layers almost coincide with each other. Mass diffusivity or diffusion coefficient is a proportionality constant between
the molar flux due to molecular diffusion and the gradient in the concentration of the species (or the driving force for
diffusion). Mass diffusion in liquids grows with temperature, roughly inversely proportional viscosity-variation with
temperature.
Sc = v/D = mu/rho D = viscous diffusion rate / molecular [ mass diffusion rate] , where: v is the kinematic viscosity or
mu/rho x D, D is the mass diffusivity [m2/s], mu is the dynamic viscosity of the fluid[ Pa.s], rho is the density of fluid
[kg/m3]
Prandtl Number:
The Prandtl number is a dimensionless quantity that puts the viscosity of a fluid in correlation with the thermal
conductivity. It, therefore, assesses the relation between momentum transport and thermal transport capacity of the
fluid. It is defined as, Pr = Momentum transport / Heat transport. Usually, the Prandtl number is assumed to be
around 0.7 for gases and it is similar to Schmidt number for gases. Thus Schmidt number for gases is similar t Prandtl
number.
