CFD analysis of mucous effect in the nasal cavity

This research aims to investigate the airflow patterns and particle deposition in a healthy human upper airways. A realistic 3-D computational model of the upper airways including the vestibule was developed using a series of CT scan images of a healthy human. Simulations of the airflow fields in the upper airway passages were performed by solving the Navier-Stokes and continuity equations for breath rate 20 L/min. The trajectory analysis approach was applied to study the particle transport and deposition for the model with and without mucous lining. The presented results revealed that the mucous layer can have significant impact on airflow analysis and there were noticeable differences in the amount of particle deposition in each models.