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A countercurrent mechanism system is a mechanism that expends energy to create a concentration gradient. It is found widely in nature and especially in mammalian organs. For example, it can refer to the process that is underlying the process of urine concentration, that is, the production of hyperosmotic urine by the mammalian kidney.
Other countercurrent exchange circuits where the incoming and outgoing fluids touch each other are used for retaining a high concentration of a dissolved substance or for retaining heat, or for allowing the external buildup of the heat or concentration at one point in the system. Countercurrent exchange circuits or loops are found extensively ...
In a countercurrent flow system, air (or, more usually, the water containing dissolved air) is drawn in the opposite direction to the flow of blood in the gas exchanger. A countercurrent system such as this maintains a steep concentration gradient along the length of the gas-exchange surface (see lower diagram in Fig. 2).
The number of transfer units (NTU) method is used to calculate the rate of heat transfer in heat exchangers (especially parallel flow, counter current, and cross-flow exchangers) when there is insufficient information to calculate the log mean temperature difference (LMTD). Alternatively, this method is useful for determining the expected heat ...
Counter current multiplier diagram The loop of Henle is supplied by blood in a series of straight capillaries descending from the cortical efferent arterioles. These capillaries (called the vasa recta ; recta is from the Latin for "straight") also have a countercurrent multiplier mechanism that prevents washout of solutes from the medulla ...
This allows for a countercurrent exchange system whereby the medulla becomes increasingly concentrated, but at the same time setting up an osmotic gradient for water to follow should the aquaporins of the collecting duct be opened by ADH.
Countercurrent distribution, therefore, is a method of using a series of vessels (separatory funnels) to separate compounds by a sequence of liquid-liquid extraction operations. Contrary to liquid-liquid extraction, in the CCD instruments the upper phase is decanted from the lower phase once the phases have settled.
A countercurrent exchange system is utilized between the venous and arterial capillaries. Lowering the pH levels in the venous capillaries causes oxygen to unbind from blood hemoglobin because of the Root effect. This causes an increase in venous blood oxygen partial pressure, allowing the oxygen to diffuse through the capillary membrane and ...