A novel CFD analysis to minimize the spread of COVID-19 virus in hospital isolation room

Abstract

The COVID-19 is a severe respiratory disease caused by a devastating coronavirus family (2019-nCoV) has become a pandemic across the globe. It is an infectious virus and transmits by inhalation or contact with droplet nuclei produced during sneezing, coughing, and speaking by infected people. Airborne transmission of COVID-19 is also possible in a confined place in the immediate environment of the infected person. Present study investigates the effectiveness of conditioned air released from air-conditioning machines to mix with aerosol sanitizer to reach every point of the space of the isolation room so as to kill the COVID-19 virus which will help to protect the lives of doctors, nurses and health care workers. In order to numerically model the laminar-transitional flows, transition SST k-ε model, which involves four transport equations are employed in the current study. It is found from the analysis that high turbulent fields generated inside the isolation room may be an effective way of distributing sanitizer in entire volume of isolation room to kill the COVID-19 virus.

Keywords: Airborne transmission; COVID-19; Hospital isolation room; Sanitizer; Turbulent field.

Fig. 1

Schematic diagram of the computational domain (isolation room of hospital).

Fig. 2

Meshing: (a) Hospital isolation room, and (b) detail view of important components.

Fig. 3

Components, inlet and outlet of the isolation room.

Fig. 4

(a) Computational domain for validation, (b) measured location inside the test chamber , (c) velocity distribution at various position inside the test chamber (inlet velocity 1.36 m/s is considered).

Fig. 5

Streamlines emerging from the air-conditioning vent various time instant (1 500 time steps) (isometric view): (a) t = 0.25T, (b) t = 0.5T, (c) t = 0.75T, and (d) t = T.

Fig. 6

Streamlines emerging from the air-conditioning vent (top view) various time instant: (a) t = 0.25T, (b) t = 0.5T, (c) t = 0.75T, and (d) t = T.

Fig. 7

Streamlines emerging from the air-conditioning vent various time instant (1 200 time steps) (isometric view): (a) t = 0.25T, (b) t = 0.5T, (c) t = 0.75T, and (d) t = T.

Fig. 8

Non-dimensional temperature contour of the isolation room (both air-conditioning vent (24 °C) and sanitizing machine (30 °C) working together).

Fig. 9

Scaled velocity vectors (both air-conditioning vent and sanitizing machine working together).

Fig. 10

Turbulent kinetic energy contour plots (unit: m2/s2): (a) air-conditioning vent working only, and (b) when both air-conditioning vent and sanitizing machine working together.