Mass transfer

Mass transfer occurs in many processes, such as absorption, evaporation, drying, precipitation, membrane filtration, and distillation.

Some common examples of mass transfer processes are the evaporation of water from a pond to the atmosphere, the purification of blood in the kidneys and liver, and the distillation of alcohol.

In industrial processes, mass transfer operations include separation of chemical components in distillation columns, absorbers such as scrubbers or stripping, adsorbers such as activated carbon beds, and liquid-liquid extraction.

In astrophysics, mass transfer is the process by which matter gravitationally bound to a body, usually a star, fills its Roche lobe and becomes gravitationally bound to a second body, usually a compact object (white dwarf, neutron star or black hole), and is eventually accreted onto it.

Thus, the maximum theoretical extent of a given mass transfer is typically determined by the point at which the chemical potential is uniform.