Scientists from the Carlos III University of Madrid (UC3M) have analyzed3d modelingthemechanisms used by trees to transport water inside. The researchers decided to start this research to try to learn the mechanisms that plants use when it comes toextract water from land that is very dry or somewhat inhospitable. In this way they could apply the knowledge in new hydraulic systems or suction pumps.
The three-dimensional model created by UC3M scientists makes it possible to analyze the perspiration and absorption of the tree’s bark, as well as the pressure in the different types ofducts that carry fluids inside the trunk, such as phloem or xylem. The first is a vascular tissue that conducts sugars and other synthesized nutrients from the organs that produce them to those in which they are consumed and stored, both upward and downward. The xylem, on the other hand, is a fabric specially adapted for the upward transport of water throughout the plant and its elements are arranged in longitudinal rows through more or less continuous sections of conduits.
The main conclusion of the study is thatthe sap in the trunks of the trees is in a situation of tension. In this way, it has been shown that when the pressure is positive in both the xylem and phloem ducts, the model expands in the radial direction. On the other hand, when the pressure is negative in the xylem and positive in the phloem, which is what is thought to occur during the day, the model contracts in the radial direction. “Our results are still not absolutely conclusive, but they open a way for us to continue the study and find out a little more about these processes,” reveals José Luis Pérez Díaz.
At the momentany water suction pump is not capable of rising more than 10 metersat normal atmospheric pressure, while the tree ofthe sequoia can raise the water to 100 meters high. “Anything we learn from plants I think is going to be very interesting in this field,” concludes Pérez Díaz.
