Quantifying mass transfer in permeable media containing conductive dendritic networks

Tree‐like branching networks are conduits for mass transport in many natural systems. Because precisely determining conduit‐matrix mass transfer requires exact knowledge of dendrite geometries, interdomain mass exchange rates are often described using the concept of effective mass‐transfer. We present a direct association between average geometric properties of dendritic networks and mass transfer. We show that the value of the mass‐transfer rate coefficient can be estimated directly using a physically based relation that requires no knowledge of the specific network geometry.