American Association for Aerosol Research - Abstract Submission

AAAR 39th Annual Conference
October 18 - October 22, 2021

Virtual Conference

Abstract View


Ventilation Systems and COVID-19

Sunil Kumar, David Klassen, Tatiana Baig, MARIA KING, Texas A&M University

     Abstract Number: 79
     Working Group: Infectious Aerosols in the Age of COVID-19

Abstract
To objective of this study is to help processing facilities with optimized ventilation parameters to mitigate COVID-19 transmission among workers as well as spoilage organism and pathogen spread with the air flow. Meat processing plants are uniquely susceptible to the effects of the virus due to the cold temperature, and high aerosol particle (fat and protein) concentration at the facilities.
Our research on the chemistry of the viral proteins using biolayer interferometry shows that the COVID-19 virus binds to fat particles that become aerosolized during meat processing and stay suspended in air, enabling rapid virus transfer in the facility and a greater potential of transmission between workers. To reduce the spread of virus aerosols, many fabrication rooms implemented mitigation measures including the installation of plastic dividers between employees. Based on facility layouts, we developed computer models of air flow using the Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) program ANSYS Fluent, that confirm that these partitions help prevent the exposure of employees to air that may contain the virus. Air properties including temperature, relative humidity, air velocity and pressure were measured at every step of the process. We evaluated the air flow models using computer generated streamlines which show the path of air moving in the facility. In addition, on-site bioaerosol collection was conducted with the wetted wall cyclone (WWC) high air volume samplers at different locations in facility, where the air flow model indicated turbulent vortices. Our research shows that simple modifications, such as adding a roof on top of the partitions, could optimize their effect in reducing the transmission of airborne particles. However, consideration of individual plant circumstances is required for effective mitigation measures. This presentation is also outlining a process for a universal air flow model to examine the spread of infectious viral or bacterial aerosol particles at other plants.