Analytical and experimental studies of facilitated transport

Facilitated transport is a process in which permeation through a liquid film is chemically augmented. Because of the scientific and engineering interest in this phenomenon, the purpose of this work was to carry out a detailed mathematical and experimental investigation of facilitated transport. The differential equations describing facilitated transport are presented, and a generally applicable numerical solution recently developed by G. M. Roe for this type of boundary value problem is summarized. The experimental investigation consisted of measuring the steady state rate of transport of nitric oxide through thin films of ferrous chloride solution and of determining independently the values of the system parameters of which the nitric oxide flux was a function. The experimental results were accurately predicted by using the model developed by Roe. This is the first demonstration of a general quantitative understanding of facilitated transport.