CFD SIMULATION OF A MASS TRANSPORT MODEL FOR AIRFLOW IN THE UPPER AIRWAY SYSTEM

This work presents initial results of a mass transfer model obtained by a CFD approach that intents to calculate the mass transfer in a upper airway model during a respiratory cycle. Results have shown that the thickness of the mucus can play an important role in the way the mass is absorbed in the domain. The main challenge of this research comprises in solving a multi-scale problem where the mass transfer occurs in a very small domain (µm) while the airflow happens in a bigger one (cm).