Learning Resource

on
ENERGY CIRCUIT ANALOG MODEL

(E-C ANALOG MODEL)

MODEL
(For M.Sc. (Environmental Science) 1St Semester
Paper – MES--104, Unit - II)

Dr. Sandeep Gupta September 2022

Asst. Prof.
Institute of Environmental Studies
Kurukshetra University
Kurukshetra
 “One needs a
Macroscope
to see the Whole" -
Odum
Fig. 1. A "cartoon view of the macroscope, showing the steps we
must take in going from detailed data surveys to system viewing
and prediction“. (Odum, 1971).
 Ecosystems are the
ultimate units of nature
through which
the efficiency of energy
and nutrients is
Regulated.
(Odum,, H.T., 1960)
 The analogies, metaphors and
models are alike in allowing
the associations from one field
to animate a scientist's
thinking about another field.
(Hesse,, 1966)
Metaphor- a figure of speech in which two unlike things
are explicitly compared, as in “he is like a machine”.

Analogy - a similarity between like features of two

things, on which a comparison may be based:
'the analogy between the heart and a pump'.
 Introduction
 Hutchinson's (1948) analogy that ecological
processes were a subset of interlocking
chemical processes.
 This was further conveyed in Odum's work who
was the student of Hutchinson.
Hutchinson
 There are natural means to reduce the
complexity, and this is revealed in the Odum's
work of 1950s and 1960s that include the
energetic analysis of systems of all kinds.
 And this analysis was triggered in his work of
Energy circuit analog model.
model
Fig. 2. The global biogeochemical cycle of
carbon. (Hutchinson 1948). Quantities are
per cm2 of the earth's surface per year.)
 Analog Model?
 Analogizing is the process of representing
information about a particular subject (the
analogue or source system) by another
particular subject (the target system).
 A simple type of analogy is one that is based on
shared properties.
 Analogical models,, also called "analog"
" or
"analogue"" models, therefore represent the
analog systems that share the properties with
the target system as a means of representing
the world.
 Energy Circuit Analog Model
 In the 1950s and the 1960s H.T. Odum used
simple electrical energy networks composed of
batteries, wires, resistors and capacitors to
model the energy flow pathways of ecosystems
 Odum’s first published paper on passive
analogs (1960) proposed that Ohm’s Law from
electronics was analogous to the
thermodynamic functioning of ecosystems.
ecosystems
 The concept was given first in 1960 for the
Silver Spring Ecosystem, Central Florida and
then it was deeply discussed in an elaborated
manner in his papers upto 1970s.
 Energy Circuit Analog Model
 Electron flows in the form of currents (amp, i.e.
certain no. (6.241*1018) of electron passing one
second) through a conductor.
 Higher the current (higher amperes), higher is
the number of electrons passing through a wire
per second.
 Ohm's Law
 Ohms Law states that the current flow across a
wire is directly proportional to the potential
difference across that wire.
 Odum Writes
 "Analog simulation has many purposes. The
process of setting up flows and functional parts
is a powerful stimulant to the imagination,
helping one to be precise, to ask new questions
about the particular networks, and to secure the
right measurements.
 The electric flows, being very fast,
fast can simulate
much slower systems.. Because electrons and
their control pieces are very small, they can
model large systems that would be expensive
or impossible to manipulate experimentally"
experimentally
 Odum Writes..
 Odum gives the simulation of the flows of
groundwater across the state of Nebraska as an
example and states:
"The
The flow of electrons in wires is so fast that fifty
years of changes can be observed in a short time" time
 Odum's Diagram -1
 The following diagram shows the relative scale
of biomass stocks and production rates (both
converted to energy equivalents)
equivalents and the
subdivision of gross production into respiration,
consumption,, and so on.
 The flow downward, from the upper left to the
heat sink at the bottom adds the force of
gravity to a theme that runs throughout Odum's
work.
 Odum claimed that the energy flow
diagramming is not new and is analogous flows
of chemicals (Hutchinson, 1946) and energy
through the biosphere (Hutchinson, 1948).
 Import

Export

Fig.3. Energy Flow

Diagram for an
Ecosystem.
(Odum, 1956).
 Odum's Diagram - 2
 The Fig. 4 given by Odum in 1960, depicts an
electrical circuit in a diagram that correspond
very
ery closely to the above Fig. 3.
 The boxes in Fig. 4 are corresponding to the
trophic compartments (e.g. Herbivores,
carnivores) are similarly placed and scaled
compared to Fig. 3 given in 1956 act as a link
bridging the ecosystem and the electrical circuit.
Fig. 4. Electrical Analog
Circuit for the steady state
Ecosystem. (Odum, 1960).
 Odum's diagram – 2..
 In the actual elecrical circuit,
circuit resistors
(represented as zig-zag
zag lines with arrows) could
be adjusted until the current flow along the
connecting wires measured on the ammeters.
 In the Odum's work, these elecrical circuit became
proportional to the measurements of energy
flowing between the compartments in the actual
ecosystem.
 The direct analogizing in the Odum's work
introduced storage condensers in to the electrical
trophic compartments, giving biomass an
equivelent of the charge stored in each condenser
 Odum's diagram - 2 Cont..
 Reciprocally, Odum suggested the term
Ecoforce as an ecological equivalent for the
voltage drop between compartments,
compartments
measured by voltmeter.
voltmeter
 With the idea of Ecoforce, Odum (1960)
suggested that the ecologists should recognise
that "accumulated
accumulated food by its concentration
practically forces food through the consumers",
consumers
or in other words, "Ecological
Ecological and other system
are the manifestation of universal principle of
energy transformation".".
 Odum's diagram - 2..
 Current shunt resistors are low resistance
precision resistors used to measure AC or DC
electrical currents by the voltage drop of those
currents that are created across the resistance
 Therefore, in Odum's work, the Ecoforce are
analogous to current shunts where energy level
drops as it passes through from one
compartment to other.
 According to Ohm's law: V=I×R
 states that the Voltage (V in Volts) across a
resistance (R in Ohms) is the product of the
resistance and the current (I in Amps) flowing
through the resistance.
 Odum's diagram – 2..
 For example. A current shunt whose resistance
is 0.001 Ohms having a current of 50 Amps
flowing through it will produce a voltage of
0.001 × 50 = 0.05 Volts or 50 mV (milliVolts)
(
 So by inserting a current shunt into a circuit
whose current we want to measure, we can find
the current by measuring the voltage drop
across the shunt. Then knowing the resistance
of the current shunt we can calculate the
current using Ohm's law arranged as I = V / R.
 The E-C
C Analog Model
 During the 1960s, Odum developed and
refined a set of symbols for systems based
on his circuit diagrams.
 In the energy circuit diagram the detail of
circuitry for the biomass compartments is
simplified into the hexagonal and capped
semi-circle symbols.
 It is noticeable that although the compartments
are still loosely scaled to the biomass, the flows
of energy are no longer conveyed with any
sense of proportionality or measure.
Fig. 5. A network energy
diagram of the main power
flows [in a tropical rain forest
in Puerto Rico].
No feedback from storage to
power intake is shown within
or between compartments.
(a) Energy-circuit language;
(b) Equivalent-circuit
language". (Odum, 1970).
 Remarks
 When Odum subsequently compared systems
of widely varying kinds, energy circuit
diagrams became the hallmark of his
publications.
 In his book, ‘Systems Ecology’ (1982), there
was a 580 pages contained around 1400
energy circuit diagrams.