A Physics Modeling Study of COVID-19 Transport in Air
Objectives: Health threat from COVID-19 airborne infection has become a public emergency of international concern. During the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, people have been advised by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to maintain social distancing of at least 2 m to limit the risk of ex...
| Main Authors: | , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Ital Publication
2020-10-01
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| Series: | SciMedicine Journal |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://www.scimedjournal.org/index.php/SMJ/article/view/174 |
| _version_ | 1818428064408797184 |
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| author | Luis Alfredo Anchordoqui James B. Dent Thomas J. Weiler |
| author_facet | Luis Alfredo Anchordoqui James B. Dent Thomas J. Weiler |
| author_sort | Luis Alfredo Anchordoqui |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Objectives: Health threat from COVID-19 airborne infection has become a public emergency of international concern. During the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, people have been advised by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to maintain social distancing of at least 2 m to limit the risk of exposure to the coronavirus. Experimental data, however, show that infected aerosols and droplets trapped inside a turbulent puff cloud can travel 7 to 8 m. We carry out a physics modeling study for COVID-19 transport in air. Methodology: We propose a nuclear physics analogy-based modeling of the complex gas cloud and its payload of pathogen-virions. We estimate the puff effective stopping range adapting the high-energy physics model that describes the slow down of α-particles (in matter) via interactions with the electron cloud. Analysis Findings: We show that the cloud stopping range is proportional to the diameter of the puff times its density. We use our puff model to determine the average density of the buoyant fluid in the turbulent cloud. A fit to the experimental data yields , where and are the average density of the puff and the air. We demonstrate that temperature variation could cause an O (≲ ±8%) effect in the puff stopping range for extreme ambient cold or warmth. We also demonstrate that aerosols and droplets can remain suspended for hours in the air. Therefore, once the puff slows down sufficiently, and its coherence is lost, the eventual spreading of the infected aerosols becomes dependent on the ambient air currents and turbulence. |
| first_indexed | 2024-12-14T14:55:41Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-08289a6842174713889c94eb0aa06cd6 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2704-9833 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-12-14T14:55:41Z |
| publishDate | 2020-10-01 |
| publisher | Ital Publication |
| record_format | Article |
| series | SciMedicine Journal |
| spelling | doaj.art-08289a6842174713889c94eb0aa06cd62022-12-21T22:57:00ZengItal PublicationSciMedicine Journal2704-98332020-10-0120839110.28991/SciMedJ-2020-02-SI-748A Physics Modeling Study of COVID-19 Transport in AirLuis Alfredo Anchordoqui0James B. Dent1Thomas J. Weiler2a) Department of Physics and Astronomy, Lehman College, City University of New York, NY 10468, United States. b) Department of Physics, Graduate Center, City University of New York, NY 10016,Department of Physics, Sam Houston State University, Huntsville, TX 77341,Department of Physics and Astronomy, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, TN 37235,Objectives: Health threat from COVID-19 airborne infection has become a public emergency of international concern. During the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, people have been advised by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to maintain social distancing of at least 2 m to limit the risk of exposure to the coronavirus. Experimental data, however, show that infected aerosols and droplets trapped inside a turbulent puff cloud can travel 7 to 8 m. We carry out a physics modeling study for COVID-19 transport in air. Methodology: We propose a nuclear physics analogy-based modeling of the complex gas cloud and its payload of pathogen-virions. We estimate the puff effective stopping range adapting the high-energy physics model that describes the slow down of α-particles (in matter) via interactions with the electron cloud. Analysis Findings: We show that the cloud stopping range is proportional to the diameter of the puff times its density. We use our puff model to determine the average density of the buoyant fluid in the turbulent cloud. A fit to the experimental data yields , where and are the average density of the puff and the air. We demonstrate that temperature variation could cause an O (≲ ±8%) effect in the puff stopping range for extreme ambient cold or warmth. We also demonstrate that aerosols and droplets can remain suspended for hours in the air. Therefore, once the puff slows down sufficiently, and its coherence is lost, the eventual spreading of the infected aerosols becomes dependent on the ambient air currents and turbulence.https://www.scimedjournal.org/index.php/SMJ/article/view/174covid-19sars-cov-2transportairborne infectionaerosol. |
| spellingShingle | Luis Alfredo Anchordoqui James B. Dent Thomas J. Weiler A Physics Modeling Study of COVID-19 Transport in Air SciMedicine Journal covid-19 sars-cov-2 transport airborne infection aerosol. |
| title | A Physics Modeling Study of COVID-19 Transport in Air |
| title_full | A Physics Modeling Study of COVID-19 Transport in Air |
| title_fullStr | A Physics Modeling Study of COVID-19 Transport in Air |
| title_full_unstemmed | A Physics Modeling Study of COVID-19 Transport in Air |
| title_short | A Physics Modeling Study of COVID-19 Transport in Air |
| title_sort | physics modeling study of covid 19 transport in air |
| topic | covid-19 sars-cov-2 transport airborne infection aerosol. |
| url | https://www.scimedjournal.org/index.php/SMJ/article/view/174 |
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