| Title |
A CFD Simulation of a Negative Pressurized Medical Container for COVID-19 Testing |
| Authors |
Minji Jung ; Su Ha Han ; So Yeon Yoo ; Jacob Lee ; Jin Kwan Hong |
| DOI |
https://doi.org/10.6110/KJACR.2021.33.2.072 |
| Keywords |
코로나-19; 전산유체역학; 음압컨테이너형 선별진료소; 검사대; 환기횟수; 교차감염 COVID-19; Computational fluid dynamics; Negative pressurized medical container; Sample collection booth; Air change per hour; Cross-contamination |
| Abstract |
Fast screening centers are being widely utilized in response to outbreaks and epidemics such as the COVID-19 pandemic. Although various types of screening centers exist, those that use negative pressurized medical rooms have the advantage of being operational regardless of the weather. A computational fluid dynamics (CFD) simulation was used in order to determine the required minimum ventilation rate of a sample collection booth, as well as the corres- ponding pressure difference between a medical examination room and a sample collection room. In order to prevent cross-contamination between the healthcare worker and testee, the sample collection booth exhaust volume flow rate should be higher than 450 CMH when the sample collection room air change rate is 15 air changes per hour. When main- taining the exhaust volume flow rate at these levels, suspending particles decreased to 2% of the total discharged particles within 2 minutes, and particle removal efficiency reached 99.9% in approximately 6 minutes. Discharged particles were dispersed throughout the sample collection room and deposited on the test subject, chair, sidewalls, ceiling, and floor. Therefore, these results show that surface disinfection should be performed after the testee is tested. |