tetano
Editor, Senior Moderator
J Aerosol Sci
. 2021 Jun;155:105769.
doi: 10.1016/j.jaerosci.2021.105769. Epub 2021 Feb 8.
Computational investigation of prolonged airborne dispersion of novel coronavirus-laden droplets
Masashi Yamakawa[SUP] 1 [/SUP], Atsuhide Kitagawa[SUP] 1 [/SUP], Kiyota Ogura[SUP] 1 [/SUP], Yongmann M Chung[SUP] 2 [/SUP], Minsuok Kim[SUP] 3 [/SUP]
Affiliations
Abstract
We have performed highly accurate numerical simulations to investigate prolonged dispersion of novel coronavirus-laden droplets in classroom air. Approximately 10,900 virus-laden droplets were released into the air by a teacher coughing and tracked for 90 min by numerical simulations. The teacher was standing in front of multiple students in a classroom. To estimate viral transmission to the students, we considered the features of the novel coronavirus, such as the virus half-life. The simulation results revealed that there was a high risk of prolonged airborne transmission of virus-laden droplets when the outlet flow of the classroom ventilation was low (i.e., 4.3 and 8.6 cm/s). The rates of remaining airborne virus-laden droplets produced by the teacher coughing were 40% and 15% after 45 and 90 min, respectively. The results revealed that students can avoid exposure to the virus-laden droplets by keeping a large distance from the teacher (5.5 m), which is more than two times farther than the currently suggested social distancing rules. The results of this study provide guidelines to set a new protection plan in the classroom to prevent airborne transmission of virus-laden droplets to students.
Keywords: Airborne transmission; Novel coronavirus; Numerical simulation.
. 2021 Jun;155:105769.
doi: 10.1016/j.jaerosci.2021.105769. Epub 2021 Feb 8.
Computational investigation of prolonged airborne dispersion of novel coronavirus-laden droplets
Masashi Yamakawa[SUP] 1 [/SUP], Atsuhide Kitagawa[SUP] 1 [/SUP], Kiyota Ogura[SUP] 1 [/SUP], Yongmann M Chung[SUP] 2 [/SUP], Minsuok Kim[SUP] 3 [/SUP]
Affiliations
- PMID: 33583950
- PMCID: PMC7869630
- DOI: 10.1016/j.jaerosci.2021.105769
Abstract
We have performed highly accurate numerical simulations to investigate prolonged dispersion of novel coronavirus-laden droplets in classroom air. Approximately 10,900 virus-laden droplets were released into the air by a teacher coughing and tracked for 90 min by numerical simulations. The teacher was standing in front of multiple students in a classroom. To estimate viral transmission to the students, we considered the features of the novel coronavirus, such as the virus half-life. The simulation results revealed that there was a high risk of prolonged airborne transmission of virus-laden droplets when the outlet flow of the classroom ventilation was low (i.e., 4.3 and 8.6 cm/s). The rates of remaining airborne virus-laden droplets produced by the teacher coughing were 40% and 15% after 45 and 90 min, respectively. The results revealed that students can avoid exposure to the virus-laden droplets by keeping a large distance from the teacher (5.5 m), which is more than two times farther than the currently suggested social distancing rules. The results of this study provide guidelines to set a new protection plan in the classroom to prevent airborne transmission of virus-laden droplets to students.
Keywords: Airborne transmission; Novel coronavirus; Numerical simulation.