Abstract View
Optimized Hospital Ventilation to Reduce Virus Aerosol Transmission
MEIYI ZHANG, Tatiana Baig, Brooke Smith, Maria King, Texas A&M University
Abstract Number: 106
Working Group: Infectious Aerosols in the Age of COVID-19
Abstract
Most hospital rooms have ventilation designs that do not effectively maintain a virus-free environment. The problem became even more important during the COVID-19 pandemic as patients already suffering from diseases and injuries are more vulnerable to SARS-CoV-2 virus infection. The objective is to design an optimized hospital room ventilation system that will reduce virus aerosol transmission. In a ¾ scale hospital chamber airflow was simulated as a function of different room configurations using ANSYS Fluent. Out of five room configurations, the most optimal computational flow models were obtained from two designs. Configuration #1 consisted of an air inlet above the bed, with the air exhaust at the lower right corner, the bed at its standard position with the monitor next to it, and chair against the wall at the end of the room. Configuration #2 had the items at the same positions as #1 with an air curtain operating at the door. Experimental results based on the quantification of aerosolized bacteriophage PRD1 as virus simulant collected with twelve filter samplers at predetermined locations validated the flow models. For Configuration #1, the highest phage concentration was collected at higher levels near the bed, indicating that the phages released from the nebulizer at patient’s head were carried by the air currents first over the bed then towards the foot of the bed in agreement with the computational flow model. Higher phage concentrations were collected near the door. Experimental data show that adding air curtain to Configuration #2 results in overall lower phage concentrations at all locations, with the highest phage numbers observed at the nebulizer location and lowest counts near the door. In conclusion, optimized design with air curtain can be implemented to effectively reduce virus aerosol transmission in hospital rooms and lower the risks of viral infections.