Computational simulation of temperature and velocity distribution in human upper respiratory airway during inhalation of hot air.

The present study provides an accurate simulation of velocity and temperature distributions of inhalation thermal injury in a human upper airway, including vestibule, nasal cavity, paranasal sinuses, nasopharynx, oropharynx, larynx, and upper part of main bronchus. To this end, a series of CT scan images, taken from an adult woman, was used to construct a three dimensional model. The airway walls temperature was adjusted according to existing in vivo temperature measurements. Also, in order to cover all breathing activities, five different breathing flow rates (10, 15, 20, 30, and 40 l/min) and different ambient air temperatures (100, 200, 300, 400, and 500 °C) were studied. Different flow regimes, including laminar, transitional, and turbulence were considered and the simulations were validated using reliable experimental data. The results show that nostrils, vestibule, and nasal cavity are damaged more than other part of airway. Finally, In order to obtain the heat flux through the walls, correlations for Nusselt number for each individual parts of airway (vestibule, main upper airway, nasopharynx etc.,) are proposed.

Dynamics of drops ­ Formation, growth, oscillation, detachment, and coalescence.

Single drops or bubbles are frequently used for the characterization of liquid-fluid interfaces. Their advantage is the small volume and the various protocols of their formation. Thus, several important methods are based on single drops and bubbles, such as capillary pressure and profile analysis tensiometry. However, these methods are often applied under dynamic conditions, although their principles are defined under equilibrium conditions. Thus, specific attention has to be paid when these methods are used beyond certain limits. In many cases, computational fluid dynamics (CFD) simulations have allowed researchers, to extend these limits and to gain important information on the interfacial dynamics. Examples discussed here are the capillary pressure tensiometry used for short time and profile analysis tensiometry for long time dynamic interfacial tension measurements, the oscillating drop methods for measuring dilational visco-elasticity. For measuring the coalescence of two drops the liquid dynamics of the subsequently formed liquid bridges have to be considered. In this paper, a thorough review of important experimental and computational findings, related to the dynamics of drops, including its formation, growth, oscillation, detachment, and coalescence is presented. Emphasis is however on some selected important developments. In addition, the paper tries to predict the main directions of advancement in interfacial research for the near future.