IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jijerp/v19y2022i16p9928-d885872.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Did You Just Cough? Visualization of Vapor Diffusion in an Office Using Computational Fluid Dynamics Analysis

Author

Listed:
  • Mohammad Al-Rawi

    (Centre for Engineering and Industrial Design (CEID), Waikato Institute of Technology, Hamilton 3240, New Zealand)

  • Ahmed M. Al-Jumaily

    (Institute of Biomedical Technologies (IBTec), Auckland University of Technology (AUT), Auckland 1010, New Zealand)

  • Annette Lazonby

    (Faculty of Business and Economics, The University of Auckland, Auckland 1010, New Zealand)

Abstract

Awareness of indoor air quality (IAQ) in crowded places such as schools and offices has increased since 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. In addition, countries’ shifting away from containment and towards living with COVID-19 is expected to increase demand for risk mitigation via air-purification devices. In this work, we use Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) analysis to investigate the impact of adding an air-purification technology on airflow in an enclosed space. We model a Polyester Filter and UV light (PFUV) dehumidifier in an office with two occupants: one infected with an airborne infectious disease, such as COVID-19; and the other uninfected. We compare three cases where the infected occupant coughs: with no device, and with the device at two different orientations. We construct a CFD model using ANSYS ® 2021 Fluent and the Discrete Phase Model (DPM) for the particle treatment. Thermal comfort is assessed using the Testo 400 IAQ and comfort kit. We find that both the device operation and the placement alter the airflow contours, significantly reducing the potential for the uninfected occupant to inhale the vapour expelled by the infected occupant, potentially impacting the likelihood of disease transmission. The device improved thermal comfort measured by Predicted Mean Vote (PMV), Predicted Percentage Dissatisfied (PPD).

Suggested Citation

  • Mohammad Al-Rawi & Ahmed M. Al-Jumaily & Annette Lazonby, 2022. "Did You Just Cough? Visualization of Vapor Diffusion in an Office Using Computational Fluid Dynamics Analysis," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(16), pages 1-17, August.
  • Handle: RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:19:y:2022:i:16:p:9928-:d:885872
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/19/16/9928/pdf
    Download Restriction: no

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/19/16/9928/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Lara Lindert & Lukas Kühn & Paulina Kuper & Kyung-Eun (Anna) Choi, 2022. "Organizational Health Literacy in the Context of Employee Health: An Expert-Panel-Guided Scoping Review Protocol," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(7), pages 1-9, April.
    2. Isabel A. L. Slurink & Veerle R. Smaardijk & Willem J. Kop & Nina Kupper & Floortje Mols & Dounya Schoormans & Sabita S. Soedamah-Muthu, 2022. "Changes in Perceived Stress and Lifestyle Behaviors in Response to the COVID-19 Pandemic in The Netherlands: An Online Longitudinal Survey Study," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(7), pages 1-13, April.
    3. Jiying Liu & Shengwei Zhu & Moon Keun Kim & Jelena Srebric, 2019. "A Review of CFD Analysis Methods for Personalized Ventilation (PV) in Indoor Built Environments," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(15), pages 1-33, August.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Ivan Panfilov & Alexey N. Beskopylny & Besarion Meskhi, 2023. "Numerical Simulation of Heat Transfer and Spread of Virus Particles in the Car Interior," Mathematics, MDPI, vol. 11(3), pages 1-18, February.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Kalmár, Tünde & Szodrai, Ferenc & Kalmár, Ferenc, 2022. "Experimental study of local effectiveness in the case of balanced mechanical ventilation in small offices," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 244(PA).
    2. Daoru Liu & Zhigang Ren & Shen Wei & Zhe Song & Peipeng Li & Xin Chen, 2019. "Investigations on the Winter Thermal Environment of Bedrooms in Zhongxiang: A Case Study in Rural Areas in Hot Summer and Cold Winter Region of China," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(17), pages 1-25, August.
    3. Jiying Liu & Mohammad Heidarinejad & Saber Khoshdel Nikkho & Nicholas W. Mattise & Jelena Srebric, 2019. "Quantifying Impacts of Urban Microclimate on a Building Energy Consumption—A Case Study," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(18), pages 1-21, September.
    4. Xiaoshu Lü & Tao Lu & Tong Yang & Heidi Salonen & Zhenxue Dai & Peter Droege & Hongbing Chen, 2021. "Improving the Energy Efficiency of Buildings Based on Fluid Dynamics Models: A Critical Review," Energies, MDPI, vol. 14(17), pages 1-23, August.
    5. Ana Tejero-González & Paula M. Esquivias, 2019. "Personalized Evaporative Cooler to Reduce Energy Consumption and Improve Thermal Comfort in Free-Running Spaces," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(22), pages 1-15, November.
    6. Ren, Jing & Liu, Jiying & Zhou, Shiyu & Kim, Moon Keun & Song, Shoujie, 2022. "Experimental study on control strategies of radiant floor cooling system with direct-ground cooling source and displacement ventilation system: A case study in an office building," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 239(PD).

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:19:y:2022:i:16:p:9928-:d:885872. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.