Mumbai: Aerosol infection can linger in the air up to 10 times longer in “dead zone” in a closed room.
Slow air circulation in this dead zone -Orasas on the sink in the bathroom, behind the door, corner and around the furniture – can be a source of potential transmission of Covid infection, the research team from IIT Bombay (IIT-B) has found.
These findings have more significant now as more and more public places, including restaurants, theaters, malls and schools and colleges, are being opened.
The team studied the flow of air in the public washroom to come to conclusions.
“Ideally, the air in a room must continue to be replaced with fresh air for the right ventilation, but trapped in the area behind the door, in the corner, around the furniture or behind the obstacles.
While Windows, fans, ac and exhaust fans keep most of the ventilated room Right, in this dead zone, the air is trapped and continues to move in a circular motion.
Technically, this is called the recirculation zone.
These zones are identified using computer simulations for this study, “said Professor Krishnendu Sinha from the Aerospace Engineering Department in IIT-B .
The researchers are motivated to learn how air flow can be managed better in closed rooms.
Using computer simulations, the researchers have shown the importance of the right vent in the closed room to reduce covid transmission.
For their research, they created computer models from small rooms and found that the area on the sink was found dead zone.
“Ventilation systems are often designed taking into account per hour (ACH) air changes.
It assumes every corner of getting fresh air, but our simulation has shown us that some angles don’t get fresh air as fast as other open parts.
If the infected person uses it, then it’s important To pump fresh air quickly in this zone, “Sinha said.
The chances of infection are significantly higher in this dead zone as aerosol infection (after small rooms used by people infected with Covid) can last up to 10 times longer than other ventilated parts, the team is found.
This study entitled ‘The Effect of the Research Zone on the Common Box Ventilation’ written by Sinha, Mani Shankar Yadav, Utkarsh Verma and Janani S Murlidharan from IIT-B and Vivek Kumar (from a Pune-based company) published in the Journal of Physics Fluids at 2 .
November they recommend using fans or additional channels overlooking the dead zone to reduce the spread of infection.
Using fans can help the dead zone ventilation.
In their experiments, they found keeping the bathroom door partly open, facing the basin, could be very helpful.