Energy-based Advection Modelling Using Bond Graphs

Abstract

Advection, the transport of a substance by the flow of a fluid, is a key process in biological systems. The energy-based bond graph approach to modelling chemical transformation within reaction networks is extended to include transport and thus advection. The approach is illustrated using a simple model of advection via circulating flow and by a simple pharmacokinetic model of anaesthetic gas uptake. This extension provides a physically-consistent framework for linking advective flows with the fluxes associated with chemical reactions within the context of physiological systems in general and the human physiome in particular.