Coagulation of Mainstream Cigarette Smoke in the Mouth During Puffing and Inhalation

The effect of Brownian coagulation on the particle size distribution of mainstream cigarette smoke subjected to conditions encountered in the mouth during human smoking has been examined experimentally and simulated with a numerical coagulation model. Smoke puffed into an artificial mouth was subjected to variable aging times and exhausted to a fast electrical mobility analyzer for particle size distribution measurement. The experimental results agreed well with the predictions of a sectional-based model of Brownian coagulation that allowed for the modeling of various continuous feed and fixed volume coagulation environments. Due to the steady input of fresh, smaller particles, particle growth during the filling of the mouth with smoke, a process intrinsic to the puffing maneuver, was significant but slower than that during fixed volume, static aging. Mouth hold times and initial smoke mass concentration were found to be strong determinants of the average particle size of smoke exiting the mouth into the respiratory tract during inhalation. The results also suggest that the smallest particles present in fresh smoke, those less than 0.1 μm diameter, are greatly reduced in number during the unavoidable mouth coagulation during puffing and virtually eliminated after 1 s of mouth hold.