Dilute suspension flow with nanoparticle deposition in a representative nasal airway model

The human nasal cavities with an effective length of only 10 cm feature a wide array of basic flow phenomena because of their complex geometrics. Employing a realistic nasal airway model and demonstrating that laminar, quasisteady airflow can be assumed, dilute nanoparticle suspension flow and nanoparticle deposition are simulated and analyzed for 7.5 <= Q <= 20 L/min and 1 <= d(p)<= 150 nm. The understanding and quantitative assessment of mixture flow fields and local nanoparticle wall concentrations in nasal airways with a thin mucus layer are very important for estimating the health risks of inhaled toxic aerosols, determining proper drug-aerosol delivery to target sites such as the olfactory regions and developing algebraic transfer functions for overall nasal dose-response analyses. Employing a commercial software package with user-supplied programs, the validated computer modeling results can be summarized as follows: (i) Most of the air flows through the middle-to-low main passageways. Higher airflow rates result in stronger airflow in the olfactory region and relatively lower flow rates in the meatuses. (ii) Nanoparticle deposition in human nasal airways is significant for tiny nanoparticles, i.e., 1 <= d(p)<= 2 nm, which also represent some vapors. The smaller the nanoparticle size and the lower the flow rate, the higher are the total deposition efficiencies because of stronger diffusion and longer residence times. (iii) Nanoparticles with d(p)< 5 nm flow preferentially through the middle-to-low main passageway along with the major portion of the airflow. For relatively large nanoparticles (d(p)>= 5 nm), due to the low diffusivities, fewer particles will deposit onto the wall leaving a much thinner nanoparticle gradient layer near the wall, i.e., such nanoparticles pass through the nasal cavities more uniformly with minor wall deposition. (iv) Secondary flows may enhance nanoparticle transport and deposition, especially in the meatuses by convecting nanoparticles into these particular regions. (v) For the olfactory region, an optimal particle size may exist due to the combined effects of nanoparticle transport and local deposition mechanisms. However, because of the low deposition flux and small surface area, the olfactory channels account for only very small total deposition values. (vi) A compact correlation for predicting nanoparticle deposition in human nasal airways has been developed. (C) 2008 American Institute of Physics.