Ventilation Strategies to Control Aerosol Transmission in Classroom: A Numerical Study

¹ Department of Mechanical Engineering, Institut Teknologi Sepuluh Nopember, 60111 Surabaya, Indonesia
² Department of Mechanical Engineering, Universitas Negeri Surabaya, 60231 Surabaya, Indonesia
³ Department of Mechanical Engineering, Royal University of Phnom Penh, 121208 Phnom Penh Capital, Cambodia

^* Corresponding author: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Abstract

This study is a predicted numerical analysis that uses Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) to assess how well five different ventilation scenarios manage the spread of aerosols in classrooms. Three-dimensional transient simulations were conducted for 210 s using a U-RANS approach with an RNG k-epsilon turbulence model. To improve the accuracy of modelling airflow and particle trajectories, a Discrete Phase Model (DPM) Multicomponent Eulerian-Lagrangian model was used. Quantitative validation demonstrated a relative error of 1.08% compared to the Duguid experimental data, indicating a high level of accuracy for the numerical model. Numerical simulation results showed that the scenario with an OAR of 1.16% resulted in the least number of trapped aerosol particles, 101 out of a total of 4600 particles (1.2%). These findings demonstrate the potential for reducing the risk of spreading virus-carrying aerosols in enclosed spaces by optimizing ventilation configurations. This study presents an integrated approach that has not been explored in many previous studies, specifically the dynamic integration of multiphase models to evaluate ventilation techniques' efficacy. Recommendations from the results can be used as a predictive basis in the design of safer and more comfortable ventilation systems in school environments.