Micro-particle transport and deposition in a human oral airway model

Abstract

Laminar-to-turbulent air flow for typical inhalation modes as well as micro-particle transport and wall deposition in a representative human oral airway model have been simulated using a commercial finite-volume code with user-enhanced programs. The computer model has been validated with experimental airflow and particle deposition data sets. For the first time, accurate local and segmentally averaged particle deposition fractions have been computed under transitional and turbulent flow conditions. Specifically, turbulence that occurs after the constriction in the oral airways for moderate and high-level breathing can enhance particle deposition in the trachea near the larynx, but it is more likely to affect the deposition of smaller particles, say, St<0.05. Particles released around the top/bottom zone of the inlet plane more easily deposit on the curved oral airway surface. Although more complicated geometric features of the oral airway may have a measurable effect on particle deposition, the present simulations with a relatively simple geometry exhibit the main features of laminar-transitional-turbulent particle suspension flows in actual human oral airways. Hence, the present model may serve as the “entryway” for simulating and analyzing airflow and particle deposition in the lung.