Boundary layer resistance of steady-state oxygen diffusion facilitated by a four-step chemical reaction with hemoglobin in solution.

The steady-state diffusion of oxygen in layers of hemoglobin solutions takes place under conditions of chemical equilibrium everywhere except in two boundary layers where deviations occur. The transport resistance of a boundary layer is defined in this paper. It is independent of the solution in the region of equilibrium and therefore forms a suitable basis to compare facilitated transport with different reaction schemes. Results are presented for a four-step reaction scheme between oxygen and hemoglobin, and compared with those of a single-step reaction for various reaction rates. The sensitivity of the results to changes in the reaction rates of the four-step model is also studied. With a knowledge of the boundary layer resistance the results of equilibrium calculations can be corrected in a simple way, which allows dirrect evaluation of experimental results.