Assessment of diffuse ceiling ventilation performance on transmission of airborne infectious diseases

ABSTRACT

Ventilation systems have been widely used to satisfy the occupants' indoor air quality and thermally comfort conditions. Various air distribution systems have been developed to supply clean air, including mixing, displacement, and diffuse ceiling ventilation systems. Diffuse ceiling systems are recent air distribution systems that supply cold air to the occupant area using perforated diffuse panels. These systems distribute air with a low velocity, minimizing the draft risk and dissatisfaction in highly dense spaces. The transmission risk of airborne infectious diseases like Covid-19 from the infected patient is high in waiting rooms. Thus, there is a demand to assure a secure environment for medical staff and patients in the waiting rooms. This study aims to numerically investigate the impact of the relative distance of the contamination source and exhaust on the transmission of airborne infectious diseases in the waiting room equipped with the diffuse ceiling ventilation system. In this regard, the release of Covid-19 from 4 different patients was investigated separately using the computational fluid dynamics technique. The distribution of the airborne infectious diseases is simulated by releasing SF6 tracer gas. The simulation result revealed that the contaminated patient located adjacent to the room's outlet had no contamination risk for other patients and staff in the waiting room. © 2022 17th International Conference on Indoor Air Quality and Climate, INDOOR AIR 2022. All rights reserved.