Understanding Fraction of Inflows (Treatment) Mass Flux Links

Fraction of inflows mass flux links (hereafter referred to as treatment mass flux links) are used to provide a mechanism for treating or removing a fraction of the amount of mass entering a Cell. They are defined by specifying a fraction of the mass entering the pathway which is removed. Hence, a treatment mass flux is computed as the mass rate of inflow of the species entering the pathway multiplied by a fraction:

The Fraction is dimensionless, and must be greater than or equal to 0 and less than or equal to 1. The Fraction is specified as a vector by species, which allows the Fraction to be species-specific.

As an example of how you might apply a treatment mass flux link, consider the following. Suppose that you were simulating a tank that chemically removed a certain fraction of each species as it entered the tank. You could use a treatment flux link to represent the kinetics in this case. You would specify the removal fraction (i.e., the treatment efficiency) for each species, and create a link to a Sink cell where all of the removed (treated) mass is accumulated.

Warning: Treatment mass flux links only act on mass fluxes that are entering from outside the Cell net to which the Cell belongs. Hence, in order to filter incoming fluxes, the incoming mass fluxes must be specified as Normal or Previous-Value (as opposed to Coupled) flux links (or must be specified as direct inflows via the Cell Inventory field). Coupled influxes are not impacted by treatment mass flux links. If a Cell that has an outgoing treatment mass flux links has no incoming Normal or Previous-Value links or influxes through a specified Cell Inventory, GoldSim will display a fatal error message.