Numerical investigation of the lower airway exposure to indoor particulate contaminants

Malthe Haahr Hvelplund, Li Liu*, Kirstine Meyer Frandsen, Hua Qian, Peter V. Nielsen, Yuan Dai, Leitao Wen, Yingqi Zhang

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalJournal articleResearchpeer-review

12 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

Inhalation exposure to indoor particulate contaminants contributes as one of the leading threats to public health. Most existing airway morphometry models are either theoretical or semi-empirical; these are developed for predicting deposition fractions for an averaged general population subgroup. It is difficult to customize a fast and accurate prediction on individual basis. This study aims to analyse the regional particle deposition along an anatomically correct airway model, which is developed from a healthy volunteer’s computer tomography images. Computational fluid dynamics simulation results show that the majority of particles are deposited in the bronchi. Accumulation particles (0.1–2.0 μm) have the smallest deposition fraction in the lower airways. An increase in the aerodynamic diameter >2.0 μm of the particles elevated the deposition fraction. These findings inspire future investigations into control methods that minimize the negative health impact of indoor emissions.
Original languageEnglish
JournalIndoor and Built Environment
Volume29
Issue number4
Pages (from-to)575-586
Number of pages12
ISSN1420-326X
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 1 Apr 2020

Keywords

  • particle transport
  • particle deposition
  • respiratory system
  • realistic lung airway

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