Experimental measurements and computational modeling of aerosol deposition in the Carleton-Civic standardized human nasal cavity

Abstract

Aerosol deposition in the novel, “Carleton-Civic” standardized geometry of the human nasal cavity was studied both numerically and experimentally. Inhalation flow rates varied from 30 to 90 L/min in the experiments, and aerosol droplets had diameters ranging from 1.71 to 9.14 μm (impaction parameters ranging from 123.3 to 2527.6 μm L/min). For the numerical simulations, both the RANS/EIM (Reynolds averaged Navier–Stokes equations for the gas phase and eddy-interaction random walk models for the particulate phase) and large eddy simulations were used. The mechanism of aerosol deposition in the standardized nasal cavity was dominated by inertial impaction. Deposition data from the standardized nasal cavity transected cited in vitro data based on individual subjects. The data also correlated very well with cited in vivo measurements but generally showed less aerosol deposition for a given value of the impaction parameter. Regional deposition characteristics within the nasal passages were also investigated both experimentally and numerically and new trends of regional deposition versus impaction parameter are discussed. These trends provide new insight into the general deposition behaviour of various sized aerosols within the human nasal cavity.