Nitrogen from a gaseous phase is to be diffused into pure iron at 700°C. If the
ID: 483307 • Letter: N
Question
Nitrogen from a gaseous phase is to be diffused into pure iron at 700°C. If the surface concentration is maintained at 0.16 wt% N, what will be the concentration (in weight percent) 2.2 mm from the surface after 8.1 h? The diffusion coefficient for nitrogen in iron at 700°C is 1.1 x 10 10 m2/s. 0.00 0.0000 0.55 0.5633 1.3 0.9340 0.025 0.0282 0.60 0.6039 1.4 0.9523 0.05 0.0564 0.65 0.6420 1.5 0.9661 0.10 0.1125 0.70 0.6778 1.6 0.9763 0.15 0.1680 0.75 0.7112 1.7 0.9838 0.20 0.2227 0.80 0.7421 1.8 0.9891 0.25 0.2763 0.85 0.7707 1.9 0.9928 0.30 0.3286 0.90 0.7970 2.0 0.9953 0.35 0.3794 0.95 0.8209 2.2 0.998 0.40 0.4284 1.0 0.8427 2.4 0.9993 45 0.4755 1.1 0.8802 2.6 0.9998 0.50 0.5205 1.2 0.9103 2.8 0.9999 weight percentExplanation / Answer
Recall that:
(Cx-Co)/(Cs-Co) = 1- erf(x/2sqrt(Dt))
so
x = 2.2 mm = 2.2*10^-3
D = 1.1*10^-10
t = 8.1 h = 8.1*3600 = 29160 s
1-erf( (2.2*10^-3) / (2*sqrt((1.1*10^-10)*29160))
1-erf ( 0.614)
erf(0.614) = 0.6040 approx
so
1-0.6040 = 0.396
(Cx-Co)/(Cs-Co) = 1- erf(x/2sqrt(Dt))
(Cx-Co)/(Cs-Co) =1-0.396
Cx-0)/(0.16 - 0) = 0.604
Cx = 0.16*0.604
Cx = 0.09664 wt%N