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Transmission and reduction of aerosols in classrooms using air purifier systems

SARS-CoV-2 (COVID-19) as an airborne respiratory disease led to a bunch of open questions: how teaching in classrooms is possible and how the risk of infection can be reduced, e.g., by the use of air purifier systems. In this study, the transmission of aerosols in a classroom is analyzed numerically...

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Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores principales: Burgmann, Sebastian, Janoske, Uwe
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: AIP Publishing LLC 2021
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8060972/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/33897240
http://dx.doi.org/10.1063/5.0044046
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author Burgmann, Sebastian
Janoske, Uwe
author_facet Burgmann, Sebastian
Janoske, Uwe
author_sort Burgmann, Sebastian
collection PubMed
description SARS-CoV-2 (COVID-19) as an airborne respiratory disease led to a bunch of open questions: how teaching in classrooms is possible and how the risk of infection can be reduced, e.g., by the use of air purifier systems. In this study, the transmission of aerosols in a classroom is analyzed numerically and experimentally. The aerosol concentration in a classroom equipped with an air purifier system was measured with an aerosol spectrometer (optical particle sizer, TSI Incorporated) at different locations. The transient reduction of the aerosol concentration, which was artificially generated by an aerosol generator (di-ethyl hexyl sebacate-atomizer, detected particle size ranging from 0.3 to 10 μm), was monitored. The experimental results were used to validate a numerical simulation model of the classroom using the Open Source Computational Fluid Dynamics code OpenFOAM® (version 6). With the numerical simulation model, different scenarios with infected persons in the room have been analyzed, showing that the air purifier system leads to a significant reduction of airborne particles in the room dependent on the location of the infected person. The system can support additional ventilation strategies with fresh air, especially in cold seasons.
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spelling pubmed-80609722021-04-22 Transmission and reduction of aerosols in classrooms using air purifier systems Burgmann, Sebastian Janoske, Uwe Phys Fluids (1994) ARTICLES SARS-CoV-2 (COVID-19) as an airborne respiratory disease led to a bunch of open questions: how teaching in classrooms is possible and how the risk of infection can be reduced, e.g., by the use of air purifier systems. In this study, the transmission of aerosols in a classroom is analyzed numerically and experimentally. The aerosol concentration in a classroom equipped with an air purifier system was measured with an aerosol spectrometer (optical particle sizer, TSI Incorporated) at different locations. The transient reduction of the aerosol concentration, which was artificially generated by an aerosol generator (di-ethyl hexyl sebacate-atomizer, detected particle size ranging from 0.3 to 10 μm), was monitored. The experimental results were used to validate a numerical simulation model of the classroom using the Open Source Computational Fluid Dynamics code OpenFOAM® (version 6). With the numerical simulation model, different scenarios with infected persons in the room have been analyzed, showing that the air purifier system leads to a significant reduction of airborne particles in the room dependent on the location of the infected person. The system can support additional ventilation strategies with fresh air, especially in cold seasons. AIP Publishing LLC 2021-03 2021-03-23 /pmc/articles/PMC8060972/ /pubmed/33897240 http://dx.doi.org/10.1063/5.0044046 Text en © 2021 Author(s) Published under license by AIP Publishing. 1070-6631/2021/33(3)/033321/11/$30.00 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/All article content, except where otherwise noted, is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) ).
spellingShingle ARTICLES
Burgmann, Sebastian
Janoske, Uwe
Transmission and reduction of aerosols in classrooms using air purifier systems
title Transmission and reduction of aerosols in classrooms using air purifier systems
title_full Transmission and reduction of aerosols in classrooms using air purifier systems
title_fullStr Transmission and reduction of aerosols in classrooms using air purifier systems
title_full_unstemmed Transmission and reduction of aerosols in classrooms using air purifier systems
title_short Transmission and reduction of aerosols in classrooms using air purifier systems
title_sort transmission and reduction of aerosols in classrooms using air purifier systems
topic ARTICLES
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8060972/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/33897240
http://dx.doi.org/10.1063/5.0044046
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