CFD Investigation of Ventilation Strategies to Remove Contaminants from a Hospital Room

The primary requirement in designing air conditioning systems in healthcare facilities is eliminating contaminants. It is considered one of the crucial health elements in building design, particularly in the presence of many airborne diseases such as COVID-19. The purpose of this numerical research...

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Main Authors: Mustafa Alkhalaf, Adrian Ilinca, Mohamed Yasser Hayyani
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: MDPI AG 2023-01-01
Series:Designs
Subjects:
Online Access:https://www.mdpi.com/2411-9660/7/1/5
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author Mustafa Alkhalaf
Adrian Ilinca
Mohamed Yasser Hayyani
author_facet Mustafa Alkhalaf
Adrian Ilinca
Mohamed Yasser Hayyani
author_sort Mustafa Alkhalaf
collection DOAJ
description The primary requirement in designing air conditioning systems in healthcare facilities is eliminating contaminants. It is considered one of the crucial health elements in building design, particularly in the presence of many airborne diseases such as COVID-19. The purpose of this numerical research is to simulate various ventilation designs for a hospital room model by taking into account results obtained by previous researchers. Four designs with three airflows, 9, 12, and 15 ACH (Air Change per Hour), are applied to explore the capacity of the ventilation system to remove contaminants. The objective is to determine the influence of airflow and the diffuser location distribution on the pollutants elimination represented by carbon dioxide. The Reynold Averaged Navier–Stokes (RANS) equations and the k-ε turbulence model were used as the underlying mathematical model for the airflow. In addition, boundary conditions were extracted from ASHRAE (American Society of Heating, Refrigeration, and Air-Conditioning Engineers Society) ventilation publications and relevant literature. Contrary to what was expected, this study’s results demonstrated that increased ventilation alone does not always improve air distribution or remove more contaminants. In addition, pollutant removal was significantly affected by the outlet’s location.
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spelling doaj.art-c662f7d81d50491fa25867e58154e9422023-11-16T19:59:28ZengMDPI AGDesigns2411-96602023-01-0171510.3390/designs7010005CFD Investigation of Ventilation Strategies to Remove Contaminants from a Hospital RoomMustafa Alkhalaf0Adrian Ilinca1Mohamed Yasser Hayyani2Wind Energy Research Laboratory, The University of Quebec at Rimouski, Rimouski, QC G5L 3A1, CanadaÉcole de Technologie Supérieure, Montréal, QC H3C 1K3, CanadaWind Energy Research Laboratory, The University of Quebec at Rimouski, Rimouski, QC G5L 3A1, CanadaThe primary requirement in designing air conditioning systems in healthcare facilities is eliminating contaminants. It is considered one of the crucial health elements in building design, particularly in the presence of many airborne diseases such as COVID-19. The purpose of this numerical research is to simulate various ventilation designs for a hospital room model by taking into account results obtained by previous researchers. Four designs with three airflows, 9, 12, and 15 ACH (Air Change per Hour), are applied to explore the capacity of the ventilation system to remove contaminants. The objective is to determine the influence of airflow and the diffuser location distribution on the pollutants elimination represented by carbon dioxide. The Reynold Averaged Navier–Stokes (RANS) equations and the k-ε turbulence model were used as the underlying mathematical model for the airflow. In addition, boundary conditions were extracted from ASHRAE (American Society of Heating, Refrigeration, and Air-Conditioning Engineers Society) ventilation publications and relevant literature. Contrary to what was expected, this study’s results demonstrated that increased ventilation alone does not always improve air distribution or remove more contaminants. In addition, pollutant removal was significantly affected by the outlet’s location.https://www.mdpi.com/2411-9660/7/1/5air qualityCFD simulationtrace studycontaminant removal
spellingShingle Mustafa Alkhalaf
Adrian Ilinca
Mohamed Yasser Hayyani
CFD Investigation of Ventilation Strategies to Remove Contaminants from a Hospital Room
Designs
air quality
CFD simulation
trace study
contaminant removal
title CFD Investigation of Ventilation Strategies to Remove Contaminants from a Hospital Room
title_full CFD Investigation of Ventilation Strategies to Remove Contaminants from a Hospital Room
title_fullStr CFD Investigation of Ventilation Strategies to Remove Contaminants from a Hospital Room
title_full_unstemmed CFD Investigation of Ventilation Strategies to Remove Contaminants from a Hospital Room
title_short CFD Investigation of Ventilation Strategies to Remove Contaminants from a Hospital Room
title_sort cfd investigation of ventilation strategies to remove contaminants from a hospital room
topic air quality
CFD simulation
trace study
contaminant removal
url https://www.mdpi.com/2411-9660/7/1/5
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