Journal
BUILDING SIMULATION
Volume 1, Issue 4, Pages 326-335Publisher
TSINGHUA UNIV PRESS
DOI: 10.1007/s12273-008-8328-0
Keywords
respiratory droplets; air distribution; transmission; airborne disease
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Funding
- Faculty of Construction and Land Use at The Hong Kong Polytechnic University
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The dispersion characteristics of respiratory droplets are important in controlling transmission of airborne diseases indoors. This study investigates the spatial concentration distribution and temporal evolution of exhaled and sneezed/coughed droplets within the range of 1.0 - 10.0 mu m in an office room with three air distribution methods, specifically mixing ventilation (MV), displacement ventilation (DV), and under-floor air distribution (UFAD). The diffusion, gravitational settling and deposition mechanism of particulate matter were accounted by using an Eulerian modeling approach with one-way coupling. The simulation results indicate that exhaled droplets up to 10 mu m in diameter from normal human respiration are uniformly distributed in MV. However, they become trapped in the breathing zone by thermal stratifications in DV and UFAD, resulting in a higher droplet concentration and an increased exposure risk to other room occupants. Sneezed/coughed droplets are more slowly diluted in DV/UFAD than in MV. Low air speed in the breathing zone in DV/UFAD can lead to prolonged human exposure to droplets in the breathing zone.
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