Air Flow Door Barrier for Airborne Infection Isolation Rooms

¹ Norconsult AS, Sandvika, Norway
² Oslo Metropolitan University, Norway

^* Corresponding author: T.Thorgeir.Harsem@norconsult.com

Abstract

Airborne Infection Isolation Rooms (AIIRs) are used in hospitals to counter the spread of airborne infections. These rooms usually work well as long as the doors to the patient rooms are closed. However, passage through open doorways initiates air flows that may lead to containment failure. This paper presents a new “Air Flow Door Barrier” system for AIIRs and analyses its efficiency through CFD simulations. The overset mesh method is used to represent a hinged door and a person transiting from the patient room to the anteroom. The new system consists of a fan which introduces filtered patient room air into the anteroom through large displacement diffusors. It runs in synchronization with the door operator and produces an evenly distributed velocity across the open doorway. It is found that the system has the potential to remove nearly all transfer of air out from the patient room. The development of the system is part of an ongoing project aimed at finding cost-effective solutions for retrofitting existing patient rooms. However, the system also has the potential to be beneficial when considering inclusion in new standard AIIRs.