An application of the method of lines in biological mass transfer

The method of lines is a numerical technique particularly suited to the solution of parabolic partial differential equations, which has been the subject of much research in recent years, and which has been incorporated into a number of readily available computer library packages. The method has been applied to a number of problems in areas such as chemical engineering, atmospheric physics and nuclear engineering. It does not however, seem to have been widely used in biological mass transfer problems of the type arising in the study of artificial lungs and kidneys. By describing some of the problems tackled by the author and his colleagues, it is hoped to interest a wider audience in the potential benefits of this method.