ELIMINATION OF NITROGEN FROM THE BLOOD STREAM

DURING DEEP SEA DIVING

During deep sea diving, human beings are exposed to hazards that are unique to the hyperbaric
underwater environment, and the physical behavior of gases at higher ambient pressure. Bends and
decompression sickness result from physical dissolution of gases (especially nitrogen) in the blood
stream at high pressures, followed by rapid exsolution during decompression when the diver returns
to the surface. The rate of nitrogen removal from the blood stream is, therefore, critical during deep
sea diving. In this case study, They model the transfer of nitrogen from the blood stream to the
alveolus following deep sea diving in order to estimate the nitrogen removal.

In this figure They develop a simple model to study the process of diffusion of nitrogen from the
blood stream to the alveolus through a thin layer of epithelial cells during deep sea diving. They
simplify the problem by assuming that the entire network of blood vessels can be modeled as a layer
of blood stream flowing over a thin layer of epithelial cells in 2D. They assume here that the network
of blood vessels fully covers the alveoli surface. The simplified geometry used for the model is shown
in Figure b. The nitrogen is removed from the blood stream through the layer of cells into the air in
the alveolus.

Governing equation The process was considered to be steady state and hence, the governing
equations in the different regions are:

In the blood stream:

∂c ∂2 c
u D , Blood 2
∂x N ∂ x
2

In the epithelial cells:

D N Tissue ¿ )
2 =0
The velocity profile of blood inside the vessel is of the form:
2
u=umax 1− y
[
ý ( )]
BOUNDARY CONDITIONS It was assumed that nitrogen gas is exchanged only in the alveoli, so
the alveolar air is at ambient nitrogen concentration. The worst case scenario of diving was
considered, assuming that the depth of dive was 40 m corresponding to a pressure of 5 atm. The blood
stream nitrogen concentration at this pressure was used for the analysis and is given in Table. Input
parameters The value of the mass transfer coefficient was calculated based on the alveolar air
velocity and is given in Table.The blood stream concentration of nitrogen was applied as a boundary
condition on the left wall of the blood stream, as shown in Figure a,b. where the air velocity can be
taken as 1.4% that of the bulk intake air velocity. The flux of nitrogen removal from the epithelial cell
layer to the air in the alveolus was determined using a mass transfer coefficient:
∂C
−D N Tissue =hm ¿)
2
∂y
Parameter Value
Nitrogen Diffusivity in blood, DN2, Blood 3000 × 10-12 m2 /s

Nitrogen Diffusivity in epithelial cells, D N2, tissue 5 × 10-12 m2 /s

Maximum velocity of blood, umax 470 × 10-6 m/s

Length of alveolus, l 300 × 10-6 m

Tissue Depth, d 1 × 10-6 m

Blood Stream thickness, 2Y 12 × 10-6 m

Inlet blood Nitrogen concentration, cblood , inlet 8.125 × 10-2 kg/m3

Nitrogen Concentration in air, cair 1.3 × 10-2 kg/m3

Mass Transfer Coefficient, hm 3.97 × 10-8 m/s

ADVANTAGES:
Excess nitrogen is excreted from the body. Nitrogenous wastes tend to form toxic
ammonia, which raises the pH of body fluids. ... The animals must detoxify ammonia by
converting it into a relatively nontoxic form such as urea or uric acid.