Numerical study on spatial distribution of silver nanoparticles inside whole-body type inhalation toxicity chamber

摘要

Silver nanoparticles are among the fastest growing product categories in the nanotechnology industry. Several experimental studies reported earlier for its toxicity and its associated risks. Uniform distribution of nanoparticle concentration in inhalation toxicity exposure chambers is important in the conduct of inhalation experimental evaluation. However, relatively little is known. Several factors, including nanoparticle size, degree of mixing, and chamber design, may influence the nanoparticles distribution in whole-body exposure chamber. In the present work we investigated numerically the silver nanoparticles concentration distribution and particle trajectory in the whole body inhalation toxicity test chamber. A three dimensional numerical simulation was performed using the commercially available computational fluid dynamics code Fluent with two models, discrete phase model (DPM) and fine particle model (FPM) to calculate spatial particle trajectories and concentration. The simulated results show that the silver nanoparticle trajectories and concentration distribution are dependent on inhalation toxicity chamber geometry.