Analysis of Microplastic Particle Transmission

Abstract

The progressive increase in the mass of microplastics in the ecosystem obliges us to urgently define measures to reduce its adverse effects, which primarily requires an understanding of the genesis of its presence and the dynamics of expansion through the biosphere. This paper aims to contribute to the understanding of the dynamics of microplastic particle motion, especially in the context of deposition rate with respect to microplastic material density, microplastic particle size and especially with respect to microplastic particle shape (which significantly affects shape resistance forces). For this purpose, an overview of existing works in the field of modeling the motion of microplastics is given, and a numerical model for modeling the transport of microplastic particles in an inhomogeneous fluid velocity field for laminar flow is formed. The proposed model is thus based on a system of two nonlinear ordinary differential equations.