8VB00 - Transport Physics

Contents

Transport of heat, nutrients, drugs, and waste products, so particle transport in general, plays an essential role in the maintaining of the human body. After a short introduction in the relevant physical transport phenomena in physiological systems, based on the balance equations for mass, momentum, and energy for single-component systems, particle transport in viscid and inviscid flow will be discussed and applied to physiological systems. Theory of diffusive transport un heat transfer problems, free solutions, and through biological membranes will be discussed based on the balance equations for multi-component systems. The theory will be illustrated using examples of diffusion processes that play a role in the uptake and release of particles through biological membranes and tissues.

Learning objectives

The student will learn about the mechanisms of particle and heat flow as a result of convection and diffusion. Specific aims are:

  • providing basic insight in transport phenomena in terms of particle paths, streamlines and streak lines;
  • the formulation of the equations of motion and energy for specific cases (inviscid, flow, boundary layers, viscosity dominated flow);
  • the derivation of (approximate) analytical solutions of these equations;
  • the modelling of diffusive transport in 1, 2, or 3 dimensions for steady as well as unsteady cases.