A theory of aerosol deposition in the human respiratory tract

The deposition of inhaled aerosol particles in the human respiratory tract is due to the mechanisms of inertia impaction, Brownian diffusion, and gravitational settling. A theory is developed to predict the particle deposition and its distribution in human respiratory tract for any breathing condition. A convection-diffusion equation for the particle concentration with a loss term is used to describe the transport and deposition of particles. In this equation, an apparent diffusion coefficient due to the velocity dispersion in the lung is present and found to be the dominant diffusion mechanism for the cases considered here. Expressions for deposition by various mechanisms are also derived. The governing equation is solved numerically with Weibel's lung model A. The particle concentration at the mouth is calculated during washin and washout and compared favorably with experimental recordings for 0.5-mum diameter di(2-ethylhexyl) sebacate particles. The total deposition in the lung for particle size ranging from 0.05 to 5 mum is also computed for a 500-cm-3 tidal volume and 15 breaths/min. The results in general agree with recent measurements of Heyder et al. However, a particle size of minimum deposition is found to exist theoretically near 0.3 mum.