Inhalability of micron particles through the nose and mouth

Abstract

Aspiration efficiencies from nose and mouth inhalations are investigated at low and high inhalation rates by using the commercial Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) software CFX 11. A realistic human head with detailed facial features was constructed. Facial features were matched to represent the 50th percentile of a human male, aged between 20 and 65 years old, based on anthropometric data. The constant freestream velocity was 0.2 ms⁻¹, normal to the face, and inhalation rates through the mouth and nose were 15 liters per minute (LPM) for light breathing and 40 LPM for heavy breathing. It was found that the flow field in the near breathing region exhibited vertical direction caused by the presence of the torso where the airstream diverges as it flows around and over the body. The critical area concept was used as a tool to determine the aspiration efficiency of particles. Comparisons between critical areas for the nose and mouth inhalations show similar geometric properties such as the area’s shape, and its vertical distance location on the x-z plane located at y = 80 cm upstream. The critical area sizes were found to be slightly larger for the mouth inhalation mainly due to the larger mouth area and also the aligned orientation of the mouth to the upstream flow, whereas the nose is perpendicular to the upstream flow. This study was undertaken to establish the flow field in the near breathing region that will help to characterize the flow and particle field for initial boundary conditions leading to a more holistic modeling approach of respiration through the internal nasal cavity and mouth.

Keywords::

• Aspiration efficiency
• computational fluid dynamics
• particle inhalability

Declaration of interest

The findings and conclusions in this report are those of the authors and do not necessarily represent the views of the Australian Research Council and RMIT University. The financial support provided by the Australian Research Council (project ID LP0989452) and by RMIT University through an Emerging Research Grant are gratefully acknowledged.