Elias looked out the window, satisfied. From the simple brewing of a morning coffee (solid-liquid extraction) to the massive atmospheric scrubbing of a futuristic city, mass transfer was the invisible hand keeping the world in balance.
As the city grew, simple diffusion wasn't fast enough. Elias had to implement that would make a textbook blush. He designed "Membrane Trees"—synthetic structures that utilized forced convection . Huge fans accelerated the airflow, reducing the "boundary layer"—that stagnant film of air that slows down molecular movement. Principles and Modern Applications of Mass Tran...
By thinning that layer, Elias increased the rate of transfer a thousandfold. This was the same principle used in modern to clean blood, or in desalination plants to pull fresh water from the salt of the Earth. In Oakhaven, it was the difference between suffocation and a summer breeze. The Crisis of Saturation Elias looked out the window, satisfied