Water Vapor Transport and Its Effects on the Deposition of Hygroscopic Droplets in a Human Upper Airway Model

Abstract

The fundamentals of 3-D airflow as well as heat and water vapor transport and droplet vaporization (or hygroscopicity) are described for a human upper airway model under steady laminar-transitional-turbulent inspiratory flow conditions. Water vapor distributions from the mouth to the first four generations of the tracheobronchial tree are given in terms of relative humidity or mass fraction. The mass transfer coefficients of water vapor are correlated as a function of local flow rate and temperature-dependent diffusivity, which can be readily used for estimating the regional water loss or moisture variations in the human upper airways. Furthermore, the dynamics of hygroscopicity and deposition of isotonic saline droplets have been simulated as an example, applying the basic theory. Specifically, droplet evaporation rates and deposition pattern are analyzed and the effects of inhalation flow rates and thermodynamic air properties are discussed.