CFD analysis of particle deposition characteristics in the human upper respiratory tract: A study on multifactorial regulation laws under steady-state/cyclic breathing conditions

Jing Haiyun; Yu Zhuangzhuang; Hu Shiyu; Xia Jingen; Xiang Yang

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CFD analysis of particle deposition characteristics in the human upper respiratory tract: A study on multifactorial regulation laws under steady-state/cyclic breathing conditions

Updated：2026-09-17

- CFD analysis of particle deposition characteristics in the human upper respiratory tract: A study on multifactorial regulation laws under steady-state/cyclic breathing conditions
- Chinese Journal of Chemical Engineering Vol. 95, Issue 7, Pages: 272-287(2026)
- Affiliations：
  
  State Key Laboratory of Organic-Inorganic Composites, Beijing University of Chemical Technology, Beijing 100029, China
  National Center for Respiratory Medicine, State Key Laboratory of Respiratory Health and Multimorbidity, National Clinical Research Center for Respiratory Diseases, Institute of Respiratory Medicine, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences & Peking Union Medical College, Department of Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine, Center of Respiratory Medicine, China-Japan Friendship Hospital, Beijing 100029, China
  Research Center of the Ministry of Education for High Gravity Engineering and Technology, Beijing University of Chemical Technology, Beijing 100029, China
- Author bio：
  
  *Corresponding authors. E-mail addresses:xiajingen2016@buaa.edu.cn(J. Xia)
  *Corresponding authors. E-mail addresses:xiangy@mail.buct.edu.cn(Y. Xiang).
- Funds：
- DOI：
  CLC：
- Received：13 October 2025，
  
  Revised：2026-01-17，
  
  Accepted：19 January 2026，
  
  Online First：14 April 2026，
  
  Published：2026-07
- Accepted：
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Jing Haiyun, Yu Zhuangzhuang, Hu Shiyu, et al. CFD analysis of particle deposition characteristics in the human upper respiratory tract: A study on multifactorial regulation laws under steady-state/cyclic breathing conditions[J]. Chinese Journal of Chemical Engineering, 2026, 95(7): 272-287.
DOI：

Jing Haiyun, Yu Zhuangzhuang, Hu Shiyu, et al. CFD analysis of particle deposition characteristics in the human upper respiratory tract: A study on multifactorial regulation laws under steady-state/cyclic breathing conditions[J]. Chinese Journal of Chemical Engineering, 2026, 95(7): 272-287. DOI：

摘要

Abstract

Particle deposition in the respiratory tract involves interdisciplinary dynamic processes such as fluid mechanics

biomedicine

and materials science

and is of great significance for disease transmission (

e.g

SARS-CoV-2 aerosol infection)

toxicant exposure (

e.g

cigarette carcinogens)

and pulmonary drug delivery (

e.g

asthma therapeutics). In this study

the geometric structure of the upper respiratory tract from the nasal vestibule to the tracheal bifurcation was reconstructed using clinical computed tomography scan data and the structural repair was completed. Then

we adopted a computational fluid dynamics framework based on the Eulerian—Lagrangian approach to simulate the transport and deposition processes of aerosols. The results show that the simulation results are basically consistent with the experimental data

which confirms the reliability of the proposed model. The positions of deposition hotspots mainly depend on structural features. For example

areas with abrupt changes in the shape and direction of the flow channel

such as the nasal vestibule

piriform fossae

and laryngeal constriction

are prone to form deposition hotspots

which are related to the vortex intensity. The particle deposition rules under steady-state and cyclic breathing conditions are obtained through the analysis using multifactorial design of experiments and response surface methodology. Under steady-state breathing conditions

the particle size dominates the influence on deposition efficiency (order of influencing factors: particle size ＞ flow

rate ＞ particle density)

and there is a significant synergistic effect between particle size and flow rate. Under cyclic breathing conditions

respiratory frequency and inspiration-to-expiration ratio have equivalent effects on regulating inspiratory time

with a strong coupling effect between them

while postinspiration breath-hold has a limited effect on improving deposition efficiency. The results of this study have laid a solid theoretical foundation for aspects such as precise drug delivery and respiratory protection.

关键词

Keywords

references

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