Insights into the fluid dynamics of bioaerosol formation in a model respiratory tract

Sudipta Saha; Manish Kumar Manna; Aranyak Chakravarty; Sourav Sarkar; Achintya Mukhopadhyay; Swarnendu Sen

doi:10.1063/5.0219332

Insights into the fluid dynamics of bioaerosol formation in a model respiratory tract

Biomicrofluidics. 2024 Sep 17;18(5):054106. doi: 10.1063/5.0219332. eCollection 2024 Sep.

Authors

Sudipta Saha¹, Manish Kumar Manna², Aranyak Chakravarty¹, Sourav Sarkar², Achintya Mukhopadhyay², Swarnendu Sen²

Affiliations

¹ School of Nuclear Studies and Application, Jadavpur University (Salt Lake campus), Kolkata 700106, India.
² Department of Mechanical Engineering, Jadavpur University, Kolkata 700032, India.

PMID: 39301087
PMCID: PMC11410387 (available on 2025-09-17)
DOI: 10.1063/5.0219332

Abstract

Bioaerosols produced within the respiratory system play an important role in respiratory disease transmission. These include infectious diseases such as common cold, influenza, tuberculosis, severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) among several others. It is, therefore, of immense interest to understand how bioaerosols are produced within the respiratory system. This has not been extensively investigated. The present study computationally investigates how bioaerosols are produced in a model respiratory tract due to hydrodynamic interactions between breathed air and a thin mucus layer, which lines the inner surface of the tract. It is observed that Kelvin-Helmholtz instability is established in the thin mucus layer due to associated fluid dynamics. This induces interfacial surface waves which fragment forming bioaerosols under certain conditions. A regime map is created-based on pertinent dimensionless parameters-to enable identification of such conditions. Analysis indicates that bioaerosols may be produced even under normal breathing conditions, contrary to expectations, depending on mucus rheology and thickness of the mucus layer. This is possible during medical conditions as well as during some treatment protocols. However, such bioaerosols are observed to be larger ( $\sim O (100) μ$ m) and are produced in less numbers ( $\sim 100$ ), as compared to those produced under coughing conditions. Treatment protocols and therapeutic strategies may be suitably devised based on these findings.