Exact solutions for a class of heat and mass transfer problems

Abstract

Abstract A number of heat and mass transfer problems of chemical engineering interest involve the convective diffusion equation of the form where θ = θ(X 1 , X 2 ). Exact solutions for such problems are developed in terms of well‐known functions which have been thoroughly studied in recent years. Several problems which have appeared in the literature, solved by completely numerical methods, are re‐examined and new problems are discussed and solved. The results of the present analysis are compared with those obtained by other methods where possible. The problem of axial diffusion of heat or mass is solved in terms of known functions. The present formulation is shown to be particularly useful in the analysis of conjugated boundary value problems, i. e. for problems involving heat or mass transfer across an interface where the interfacial boundary condition is not known a priori but is related to the temperature or concentration fields in the adjacent phases.