Material Flow Analysis: Difference between revisions
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# '''Good''' - economic entities of matter with a positive or negative economic value (e.g. wood, drinking water<ref>includes, besides H<sub>2</sub>O, calcium and other trace elements and is therefore not a ''substance''</ref>, mineral ores, concrete, and automobiles) | # '''Good''' - economic entities of matter with a positive or negative economic value (e.g. wood, drinking water<ref>includes, besides H<sub>2</sub>O, calcium and other trace elements and is therefore not a ''substance''</ref>, mineral ores, concrete, and automobiles) | ||
# '''Material''' - umbrella term for ''Substance'' and ''Good'' | # '''Material''' - umbrella term for ''Substance'' and ''Good'' | ||
# '''Process''' - transformation, transportation or storage of ''Material''s. | # '''Process''' - transformation, transportation, or storage of ''Material''s. | ||
# Flow and Flux | # Flow and Flux | ||
# Transfer Coefficient | # Transfer Coefficient | ||
Revision as of 23:10, 12 August 2020
Introduction
Material flow analysis (MFA) is a methodology to analyze the flow of "materials" in-and-out of a system.
Built upon the law of conservation of energy, where energy can never be created or destroyed, only transferred, you can use material-balance equations to model complex systems such as the Seed Eco-Home.
See Material flow Analysis on Wikipedia for additional information.
Unanswered Research Questions
- Can the formal concept of "Material flow analysis (MFA)" prove useful in the design of close-looped sustainable systems?
Definitions & Terms [1]
Taken from Chapter 2.1 of Practical handbook of material flow analysis:
- Substance - any (chemical) element or compound composed of uniform units (e.g. Carbon (C), Nitrogen (N), Carbon Dioxide (CO2), and Ammonium (NH3)).
- Good - economic entities of matter with a positive or negative economic value (e.g. wood, drinking water[2], mineral ores, concrete, and automobiles)
- Material - umbrella term for Substance and Good
- Process - transformation, transportation, or storage of Materials.
- Flow and Flux
- Transfer Coefficient
- System and System Boundaries
- Activities
- Anthroposphere and Metabolism
- Material Flow Analysis
- Materials Accounting
Diagrams
A diagram related to MFA that may prove useful are Sankey diagrams.