Material Flow

Carol Timson4/12/2004

Material Flow

Humans and biota are responsible for redistribution of chemicals on Earth.

The Anthroposystem produces a lot of waste

Biogeochemical Systems

Fundamental principles to analyze flow of materials through air, land, and water

Mass balance

Systemminmout

Ecosystem

•The sun is the energy source

•Plants use the sun to produce food

•Animals are the consumers

•The decomposers (recyclers) are the fungi and bacteria.

The ecosystem is capable of recycling most of the waste products is produces.

(source – web link)

Antroposystem

Open Loop System •Fossil Fuels are the energy for the system

•Producers include manufacturing and farming

•Consumers are humans

•Decomposing (recycling) is very minor

•Includes recycling of material and wastewater treatment

by-products are disposed into the physical environment

Material Flow Transfer Matrices

Matter is transferred from producer to consumer creating the surface transfer

matrix sij Pollution is transferred from

the consumer (emitter) to the environmental receptor (pollutant is emitted)• i = producer• j = consumer• k = receptor

Matrix Example

Production (i) begins with mining The matter is transferred to the consumers (j) by

railroad The producer-consumer transfer is characterized by the

surface transfer matrix sij

The amount of matter produced is characterized by the matrix Uij

The consumer is located where the combustion occurs and the receptor (k) is located where the pollutant is deposited

The amount of matter received by the receptor that originated at the consumer is characterized by the matrix Rjk

Four Environmental Spheres

Atmosphere• Transport-conveyor

compartment• Large capability for

redistributing matter

Biosphere• thin shell of organic

matter on the earth’s surface

• The pump, allows matter to flow through nature

Strong interdependence between biosphere and atmosphere

Environmental Spheres

Lithosphere• solid shell of inorganic

material at the earth’s surface

Hydrosphere• can be seen as two

compartments: rivers are transporters and oceans are storage

Matter transfers from one sphere to another or within itself

Conclusion

The anthroposystem differs from the ecosystem in the fact that they do not recycle as much

Sustainable development can be achieved if humans can operate more like the ecosystem