Transport processes refer to the movement and transfer of physical quantities such as mass, momentum, and energy within physical, chemical, biological, or engineered systems. These processes are fundamental in various scientific and engineering fields and can be categorized mainly into three types:

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Types of Transport Processes

1. Momentum Transfer

   This involves the transfer of momentum in moving media, such as fluids. It is fundamental to fluid flow, sedimentation, mixing, and filtration processes. Momentum transfer governs how fluids move and interact with their surroundings, influencing velocity profiles and flow behavior.

2. Heat Transfer

   Heat transfer concerns the movement of thermal energy from one place to another. It occurs through conduction, convection, and radiation and is crucial in processes like drying, evaporation, distillation, and cooling.

3. Mass Transfer

   Mass transfer is the movement of mass from one phase to another or within phases, driven by concentration gradients. It underlies processes such as diffusion, absorption, distillation, membrane separation, crystallization, and leaching.

In biological contexts, transport processes also include:

• Passive Transport (no energy required):
  • Simple diffusion (movement of small nonpolar molecules like O2, CO2, H2O)
  • Osmosis (special diffusion of water)
  • Facilitated diffusion (movement of sugars, ions, amino acids via carrier or channel proteins)3
• Active Transport (energy-dependent processes moving substances against gradients) is also a key biological transport mode but was not detailed in the provided results.

Different Fields and Applications of Transport Processes

Engineering and Industrial Fields

• Chemical Engineering: Transport phenomena are foundational for designing and optimizing unit operations such as distillation, absorption, drying, filtration, and crystallization.
• Process Engineering: Transport analysis is crucial for fluid mechanics, heat transfer, and mass transfer in manufacturing and processing industries.
• Mechanical Engineering: Fluid dynamics and heat transfer in engines, HVAC systems, and machinery rely on transport processes.

Environmental and Biological Sciences

• Understanding pollutant dispersion in air and water relies on modeling transport processes.
• Biological transport processes govern nutrient uptake, waste removal, and cellular homeostasis.

Transportation and Logistics

• Transport processes in logistics refer to the physical movement of goods via various modes: road, rail, air, maritime, pipeline, and intermodal transport.
• Transportation modeling helps plan infrastructure, public transit, new mobility solutions, and policy development to optimize flow and sustainability in urban and regional transport systems.