In response to the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic, the HVAC industry has been committed to increasing focus on designing and installing systems that provide filtration and treatment of conditioned air efficiently and economically. However, there is limited research on how minor adjustments to room layout and HVAC system operation may provide an economical way to improve the potential for reduced aerosol distribution throughout a room. This study hypothesized that strategic HVAC system operation and room layout adjustments can help mitigate the airborne spread of aerosols, including those that may contain a viral load. The intent of this study was to provide a quantitative process for informing decisions in HVAC operation and room layouts for reducing and mitigating aerosol spread from an instructor in a university classroom. This study used computational fluid dynamics (CFD) to construct, analyze, and assess several low- or no-cost alterations to predict the distribution of aerosols throughout the classroom. In doing so, it was determined that limiting localized airflow mixing near the aerosol source was advantageous, particularly in HVAC cooling operations. In addition, impeding the projection of aerosols from the source provided the most benefit in heating operations, advantageously using the reduced degrees of airflow mixing due to thermal stratification.
| File Size : | 1
file
, 3.4 MB |
| Note : | This product is unavailable in Russia, Belarus |
| Number of Pages : | 15 |
| Product Code(s) : | D-CHT-24-001 |
| Published : | 2024 |
