On the Utility of a Well-Mixed Model for Predicting Disease Transmission on an Urban Bus

Fuente: arXiv
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Main Authors: Zhang, Zhihang, Capecelatro, Jesse, Maki, Kevin
Format: Preprint
Published: 2021
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author Zhang, Zhihang
Capecelatro, Jesse
Maki, Kevin
author_facet Zhang, Zhihang
Capecelatro, Jesse
Maki, Kevin
contents The transport of virus-laden aerosols from a host to a susceptible person is governed by complex turbulent airflow, and physics related to breathing, coughing and sneezing, mechanical and passive ventilation, thermal buoyancy effects, surface deposition, masks, and air filtration. In this paper, we study the infection risk via airborne transmission on an urban bus using unsteady Reynolds-Averaged Navier--Stokes equations and a passive-scalar model of the virus-laden aerosol concentration. Results from these simulations are directly compared to the widely-used well mixed model, and show significant differences in the concentration field and number of inhaled particles. Specifically, in the limit of low mechanical ventilation rate, the well-mixed model will over-predict concentration far from the infected passenger, and substantially underpredict concentration near the infected passenger. The results reported herein also apply to other enclosed spaces.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2106_13791
institution arXiv
publishDate 2021
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle On the Utility of a Well-Mixed Model for Predicting Disease Transmission on an Urban Bus
Zhang, Zhihang
Capecelatro, Jesse
Maki, Kevin
Fluid Dynamics
The transport of virus-laden aerosols from a host to a susceptible person is governed by complex turbulent airflow, and physics related to breathing, coughing and sneezing, mechanical and passive ventilation, thermal buoyancy effects, surface deposition, masks, and air filtration. In this paper, we study the infection risk via airborne transmission on an urban bus using unsteady Reynolds-Averaged Navier--Stokes equations and a passive-scalar model of the virus-laden aerosol concentration. Results from these simulations are directly compared to the widely-used well mixed model, and show significant differences in the concentration field and number of inhaled particles. Specifically, in the limit of low mechanical ventilation rate, the well-mixed model will over-predict concentration far from the infected passenger, and substantially underpredict concentration near the infected passenger. The results reported herein also apply to other enclosed spaces.
title On the Utility of a Well-Mixed Model for Predicting Disease Transmission on an Urban Bus
topic Fluid Dynamics
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2106.13791