Reducing Particle Exposure and SARS-CoV-2 Risk in Built Environments through Accurate Virtual Twins and Computational Fluid Dynamics

Abstract

The World Health Organization has pointed out that airborne transmission via aerosol particles can be a strong vector for the spread of SARS-CoV-2. Protecting occupants from infectious diseases or harmful particulate matter (PM) in general can be challenging. While experimentally outlining the detailed flow of PM in rooms may require complex setups, computational fluid dynamics (CFD) simulations can provide insights into improving the safety of the built environment and the most effective positioning of air-purifying devices. While previous studies have typically leveraged Reynolds-averaged Navier–Stokes (RANS) approaches for predicting particle propagation, the turbulence length scales accurately captured in these simulations may not be sufficient to provide a realistic spread and the mixing of particles under the effects of forced convection. In this paper, we experimentally validate a Lattice Boltzmann very large eddy simulation (VLES) approach including particle modeling. We also demonstrate how this simulation approach can be used to improve the effectiveness of air filtration devices in realistic office environments.

Keywords

• SARS-CoV-2
• aerosols
• infection risk
• air cleaners
• simulation
• virtual twin