Numerical and Statistical Analysis of Mixing Ventilation (MV) and Displacement Ventilation (DV) Systems on the Quantification of Airborne Infection Risk in Indoor Environments

Document Type

Conference Proceeding

Publication Date

1-1-2025

Abstract

Following the COVID-19 pandemic, research on indoor pathogen dispersion dynamics has experienced exponential growth. Despite substantial research on viral and bacterial transmissibility, exemplified by Epidemiologist Nancy H.L. Leung's study on respiratory virus transmission, the environmental dimensions impacting transmission have received relatively less attention. It is imperative to investigate enhancements to indoor environmental mechanisms, and mitigation of pathogen dispersion, to comprehensively address the transmission dynamics. Displacement ventilation (DV) is regarded as a highly effective transmission control ventilation strategy, which demonstrated significant potential to mitigate airborne transmission accounting occupancy-related factors. The major objective of this study involves evaluation of the effectiveness of a displacement ventilation (DV) and mixing ventilation (MV) system in reducing infection rate due to airborne particles. The study investigates the efficacy of the targeted air delivery in efficiently reducing aerosol dispersion patterns by implementing specific ventilation control, thereby reducing pathogen transmission risks in occupied spaces. Computational fluid dynamics (CFD) simulation is utilized to simulate airflow impacts on aerosol dispersion and quantify infection risk due variation in turbulence intensity. A 3D indoor environment model integrating DV and MV components was developed, and refined mesh structure near critical zones was computed to capture graded flow dynamics. The simulation employs comprehensive boundary conditions, applying the SST K-ω turbulence model for indoor airflow and discrete phase modeling (DPM) for aerosol transport characterization. To provide a holistic assessment of the ventilation performance a comparative assessment between DV and MV systems were put through in a comparable occupied space. The findings of this study provide critical insights for augmenting ventilation design parameters, including variable airflow rates, to enhance effectiveness in health-sensitive spaces guiding case specific ventilation strategies to mitigate indoor transmission of infectious diseases.

Publication Source (Journal or Book title)

ASHRAE Transactions

First Page

579

Last Page

587

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