Mass flow

This article is about the flow of fluids in biological systems. For use of mass flow in physics see Fluid Dynamics. For bulk flow in physics see Advection. For protein transport in cell biology see Bulk movement. This article is about the flow of fluids in biological systems. For use of mass flow in physics see Fluid Dynamics. For bulk flow in physics see Advection. For protein transport in cell biology see Bulk movement. Mass flow, also known as “mass transfer” and “bulk flow”, is the movement of fluids down a pressure or temperature gradient, particularly in the life sciences. As such, mass flow is a subject of study in both fluid dynamics and biology. Examples of mass flow include blood circulation and transport of water in vascular plant tissues. Mass flow is not to be confused with diffusion which depends on concentration gradients within a medium rather than pressure gradients of the medium itself.