Monodisperse and Polydisperse Aerosol Deposition in a Packed Bed

Abstract

Although polydisperse aerosols in ambient and occupational settings have been associated with adverse health effects, researchers have mostly used monodisperse aerosols to investigate particle deposition in the human lung. The objective of this work was to determine whether the deposition of a series of monodisperse aerosols is reasonable to simulate the deposition of a polydisperse aerosol. A packed bed was used as an approximate surrogate to the human lung. Polydisperse and monodisperse sebacate aerosols were generated by nebulizers and a Monodisperse Aerosol Generator (MAGE), respectively. A Harvard respirator pump and aerosol through the packed bed. Complete size distributions of inhaled and exhaled aerosol were measured by an Aerodynamic Particle Sizer (APS) and a Scanning Mobility Particle Sizer (SMPS). The deposition for discrete sections of polydisperse aerosols was compared with the deposition of monodisperse aerosols. Also, the total deposition of a polydisperse aerosol was c...