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The influence of human walking on dispersion of respiratory droplets in a ceiling-based mixing ventilation chamber.

Number: pap. 207

Author(s) : WANG J., CHOW T. T.

Summary

Recent research works indicate that in an indoor space human walking can cause strong secondary airflow and thus influence the distribution of airborne infectious particles. Respiratory droplets exhaled by infectious patients can disperse differently under different ventilation schemes. In Hong Kong the conventional ceiling-based mixing ventilation scheme is popularly in use. The extent to which human walking under such a ventilation scheme affects the dispersion of respiratory droplets was so far rarely reported. In this study, a numerical investigation on the impact of different human walking speeds on the dispersion of respiratory droplets in a ceiling-based mixing ventilation chamber was performed. A numerical model, previously developed by our group, was adopted by applying the Lagrangian method for tracing the motion of droplets, the dynamic mesh model for describing human walking, and the Eulerian RANS model for solving the airflow. The validity of this numerical model has been checked against literature data. The results show that under the influence of human walking, respiratory droplets can be entrained by the wake of walking people. Accordingly, the trajectories and fates of droplets can be changed by the walking manner. Faster walking speeds are able to mix the droplets more uniformly and quicker. To reduce the short-term exposure risk, the appropriate distance between the source person and the susceptible walking person needs to be further explored in future study.

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Pages: 7 p.

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Details

  • Original title: The influence of human walking on dispersion of respiratory droplets in a ceiling-based mixing ventilation chamber.
  • Record ID : 30008972
  • Languages: English
  • Source: Clima 2013. 11th REHVA World Congress and 8th International Conference on Indoor Air Quality, Ventilation and Energy Conservation in Buildings.
  • Publication date: 2013/06/16

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