Version 1
: Received: 8 December 2023 / Approved: 8 December 2023 / Online: 8 December 2023 (12:23:08 CET)
How to cite:
Feng, Y.; Wang, J.; Cui, X. Transport and Depositing Characteristics of Exhaling Aerosols from Inside of the Human Respiratory Airway. Preprints2023, 2023120625. https://doi.org/10.20944/preprints202312.0625.v1
Feng, Y.; Wang, J.; Cui, X. Transport and Depositing Characteristics of Exhaling Aerosols from Inside of the Human Respiratory Airway. Preprints 2023, 2023120625. https://doi.org/10.20944/preprints202312.0625.v1
Feng, Y.; Wang, J.; Cui, X. Transport and Depositing Characteristics of Exhaling Aerosols from Inside of the Human Respiratory Airway. Preprints2023, 2023120625. https://doi.org/10.20944/preprints202312.0625.v1
APA Style
Feng, Y., Wang, J., & Cui, X. (2023). Transport and Depositing Characteristics of Exhaling Aerosols from Inside of the Human Respiratory Airway. Preprints. https://doi.org/10.20944/preprints202312.0625.v1
Chicago/Turabian Style
Feng, Y., Jintao Wang and Xinguang Cui. 2023 "Transport and Depositing Characteristics of Exhaling Aerosols from Inside of the Human Respiratory Airway" Preprints. https://doi.org/10.20944/preprints202312.0625.v1
Abstract
The characteristics of exhaled aerosols outside the human respiratory airway are of significant importance in understanding virus transmission, yet they remain poorly understood. In order to effectively prevent and control the spread of respiratory infectious diseases, this study numerically investigates the exhaling characteristics of aerosols exhaled from the bronchus or larynx of a human upper airway model. This is achieved using the Euler-Lagrange method and considering various aerosol diameters (dp=0.1, 0.3, 0.5, and 1-20 μm) as well as five expiratory flow intensities (Q=15, 30, 60, 90, and 120 L/min). The important findings of this study are as follows: (1) Expiratory airflow exhibits complex flow phenomena, including jet-flow, flow separations, and vortex structures, with their characteristics being influenced by the expiratory flow intensities. (2) The exhaling characteristics of aerosols vary depending on the combined effects of expiratory flow intensities, virus aerosol diameters, and initial exhaled locations from either the bronchus or larynx. (3) A critical diameter (dc) is identified to represent the size at which aerosols can effectively exit the respiratory airway and potentially pose a transmission risk. This critical diameter is identical for aerosols exhaled from both the bronchus and larynx under the same expiratory flow intensity, but it decreases as the expiratory flow intensity increases. In conclusion, expiratory flow intensity is the most critical factor in determining whether aerosols can be expelled from the respiratory airway, as well as influencing the critical diameter (dc) for aerosols initially located in/after the larynx.
Keywords
critical exhaled aerosol diameter; exhaled aerosol fraction; human respiratory airway
Subject
Engineering, Bioengineering
Copyright:
This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
