Aerosols and human health – A multiscale problem

Abstract

Chemical engineering is a scientific discipline that uses physicochemically based quantitative analysis of the momentum, energy, and mass transfer to design and optimize industrial processes. Technical issues are considered on different scales, starting from the molecular interactions, through the nano- and micrometric levels up to the design and control of the full-scale equipment and industrial installations. Such a multi-scale approach is needed to identify the critical factors of any process. In a similar way, chemical engineering can solve problems of physiology and medicine. This paper is focused on pulmonary drug delivery, which needs using a combination of the knowledge of lung physiology with the quantitative description of aerosol generation, multi-phase flow and interfacial phenomena in the respiratory system. The scientific evidence of the effectiveness of this approach has been referred to the extensive studies of the author's research team working in the field of chemical and process engineering.