Contact electrification and charge distribution on elongated particles in a vibrating container

Recent developments in the computational simulation of dry powder inhalers

This article reviews recent developments in computational modeling of dry powder inhalers (DPIs). DPIs deliver drug formulations (sometimes blended with larger carrier particles) to a patient's lungs via inhalation. Inhaler design is complicated by the need for maximum aerosolization efficiency, which is favored by high levels of turbulence near the mouthpiece, with low extrathoracic depositional loss, which requires low turbulence levels near the mouth-throat region. In this article, we review the physical processes contributing to aerosolization and subsequent dispersion and deposition. We assess the performance characteristics of DPIs using existing simulation techniques and offer a perspective on how such simulations can be improved to capture the physical processes occurring over a wide range of length- and timescales more efficiently.

Modelling Complex Particle–Fluid Flow with a Discrete Element Method Coupled with Lattice Boltzmann Methods (DEM-LBM)

Particle–fluid flows are ubiquitous in nature and industry. Understanding the dynamic behaviour of these complex flows becomes a rapidly developing interdisciplinary research focus. In this work, a numerical modelling approach for complex particle–fluid flows using the discrete element method coupled with the lattice Boltzmann method (DEM-LBM) is presented. The discrete element method and the lattice Boltzmann method, as well as the coupling techniques, are discussed in detail. The DEM-LBM is thoroughly validated for typical benchmark cases: the single-phase Poiseuille flow, the gravitational settling and the drag force on a fixed particle. In order to demonstrate the potential and applicability of DEM-LBM, three case studies are performed, which include the inertial migration of dense particle suspensions, the agglomeration of adhesive particle flows in channel flow and the sedimentation of particles in cavity flow. It is shown that DEM-LBM is a robust numerical approach for analysing complex particle–fluid flows.