New Delhi: A computer simulator has been developed by the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT-Bombay) that will prevent the spread of viruses inside enclosed premises. The IIT-Bombay researchers developed the simulator following an airflow study inside enclosed premises.
The researchers said that public washrooms can act as dead zones where aerosols carrying virus like COVID-19 can linger 10 times more than normal restrooms.
“Ideally, air in a room should be continuously replaced with fresh air for proper ventilation, but it gets trapped in areas behind the door, in corners, around furniture or behind some obstacle. While windows, fans, air conditioners and exhaust fans keep most parts of a room properly ventilated, in these dead zones, the air gets trapped and keeps going in a circular motion. Technically, these are called recirculation zones. These zones were identified using computer simulation from study,” Professor Krishnendu Sinha from the aerospace engineering department was quoted as saying by Careers360.
“The ventilation systems are often designed keeping in mind the air changes per hour (ACH) value. This is assuming every corner is getting fresh air, but our simulations have shown us that some corners do not get fresh air as quickly as other open parts. If infected people are using it, then it is important to pump in fresh air swiftly in these zones,” the professor explained.
The IIT-Bombay researchers’ team comprised Krishnendu Sinha, Mani Shankar Yadav, Utkarsh Verma and Janani S Murallidharan and Vivek Kumar (from a Pune-based firm). The study titled ‘Effects of Recirculation Zones on the Ventilation of a Public Washroom’ was published in Physics of Fluids.
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