A thin film, 1.0 mm thick, coat of fresh paint has just been sprayed over a 1.5 m by 1.5 m square steel body part, which approximates a flat surface.
The paint contains benzene as the solvent. The paint surface exerts a partial pressure of 0.137 atm at the process temperature of 27°C. Sixty cubic meters per minute of air are blown into the rectangular drying chamber as shown above; the chamber measures 1.5 m in length, 1.0 m in height, and 1.5 m in width. The temperature of the air is 27°C and the total system pressure is 1.0 atm.
Determine the average mass-transfer convective coefficient and the solvent evaporation rate from the surface in g/min, assuming that the concentration of the solvent vapor in the bulk gas is very small.