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TSRC, Tob. Sci. Res. Conf., 2017, 71, abstr. 100 (also presented at CORESTA SSPT2017)

Electronic cigarette aerosol dynamics in a physical model of the adult human oral/pharyngeal cavity

LI Weiling(1); WANG Qiang(2); CASTRO N.(1); ZHANG Jingjie(1); PITHAWALLA Y.(1); OLDHAM M.J.(1); LIPOWICZ P.(1); ROSTAMI A.A.(1)
(1) Altria Client Services Richmond, VA, USA; (2) Eurofins Lancaster Laboratories, c/o Altria Client Services, Richmond, VA, USA

The objective of this work is to generate experimental data to validate a computational fluid dynamic (CFD) model for e-cigarette aerosol deposition. An adult human oral/pharyngeal wet walled hollow physical model has been developed for this purpose. The physical model was generated using a 3D printer from the CT scan of a 28 year-old healthy male and had an internal volume of 69.8 cc. The wall was covered with a layer of cotton cloth that can be saturated with water to replicate the high humidity conditions typically encountered in a human oral/pharyngeal cavity. The model was placed in an oven at 37 °C, and measurements were taken under both wet and dry wall conditions. Deposition efficiency from a MarkTen® product using a prototype formulation was determined by measuring cumulative aerosol mass from five puffs (gravimetric) and individual constituents from a single puff (GC/MS analysis) at the entrance and exit of the physical model. Humidity at the exit of the physical model was maintained at > 90% at a constant air flow rate of 0.66 L/min. A 37 °C dry wall condition with a constant flow of 0.66 L/min through the model resulted in a mean aerosol mass loss of 6.6 ± 0.9% due to the deposition to the wall. Under wet wall conditions, the aerosol mass increased by 38% for a 5s puff duration, with 55 cc puff volume and 37 °C wall temperature. The increase is due to moisture uptake by the aerosol. The aerosol mass increased by 80% using a 3s puff duration, 55 cc puff volume and 37 °C wet walled condition. The experimental data will be used to validate the CFD model.