Infection Risk-Based Ventilation Effectiveness Assessment in Cruise Ship Common Spaces Using Tracer Gas Measurements

¹ Department of Civil Engineering and Architecture, Tallinn University of Technology, Tallinn, Estonia
² Department of Civil Engineering, Aalto University, Espoo, Finland

^* Corresponding author: martin.kiil@taltech.ee

Abstract

Ventilation is one of the main engineering measures to control the airborne respiratory infection transmission in shared indoor spaces. This paper conducts infection risk assessment on a cruise ship employing CO2 tracer gas constant injection methodology to measure ventilation effectiveness. The study encompassed various communal areas such as a restaurant, bar, nightclub, and canteen. CO2 data loggers were employed to record concentrations at breathing level, with tracer gas source was positioned at different locations. In most cases extract air concentration was not possible to measure reliably because of typical air distribution arrangements in ships. Measured tracer gas volume flow and supply airflow rate were used to determine extract air concentration needed to calculate contaminant removal effectiveness. Point source ventilation effectiveness values were then derived from the concentration data. The outcomes of this investigation offer significant findings for the design of infection risk-oriented ventilation strategies in contemporary cruise ship environments.