Unsteady ternary mass transfer from a sphere in creeping flow

The transient mass transfer from a sphere with rigid surface into a surrounding fluid flow has been analysed for a ternary system. The concentrations inside the sphere are considered uniform. Steady, creeping flow is assumed around the sphere. The mass balance equations were solved numerically in spherical coordinates by a finite difference splitting method. The computations focused on the influence of the cross diffusion coefficients on the mass transfer rate at moderate Peclet numbers and different values of the Henry numbers and self-diffusivity rates. The occurrence on the sphere's surface of osmotic diffusion, diffusion barrier and reverse diffusion phenomena was also studied.