| Author: | Hassan, Mohieeldin Ashraf Hassan |
| Title: | CFD investigation of human airborne transmission inside an air-conditioned classroom |
| Advisors: | You, Ruoyu (BEEE) |
| Degree: | M.Eng. |
| Year: | 2022 |
| Subject: | Communicable diseases Air conditioning Ventilation Hong Kong Polytechnic University -- Dissertations |
| Department: | Department of Building Environment and Energy Engineering |
| Pages: | xii, 75 pages : color illustrations |
| Language: | English |
| Abstract: | Due to COVID-19, the world is facing a pandemic with effects that have never been seen before. With the possibility of its spread through human airborne droplets, the heating, ventilation, and air conditioning systems (HVAC) can play a part in increasing or decreasing the spread of the contaminated air inside the air-conditioned spaces. As there is not enough research done on this topic, it is becoming a very critical subject. In this dissertation, the issue was investigated using computational fluid dynamics (CFD) with the help ANSYS Fluent to see the role of HVAC systems in the transmission of infectious airborne droplets inside an air-conditioned classroom and the effect of changing ventilation rate on it. The study was done on a scaled airconditioned classroom based on the US standard for classroom sizes for 9 students + 1 teacher. The simulation was done for 3 cases where for the first case student 1 was considered to be the spreader and in the 2nd and 3rd cases student 9 was considered to be the spreader but with normal ventilation rates and double ventilation rates. The ventilation rates were determined based on the ventilation rate procedure from ASHRAEE 62.1 procedure. The Discrete Phase Model (DPM) was adopted to run the simulation as air and water phases were involved. Based on the results, it was demonstrated that the AC plays a role in the transmission of airborne inside the classroom, and with the presence of a higher ventilation rate, the spread of the contaminants has increased s more droplets have been airborne and could travel for longer distances. The layout and design of the classroom will affect the transmission process. |
| Rights: | All rights reserved |
| Access: | restricted access |
Files in This Item:
| File | Description | Size | Format | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 6545.pdf | For All Users (off-campus access for PolyU Staff & Students only) | 2.43 MB | Adobe PDF | View/Open |
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