Aerosol transmission and air quality in a generic conference room – comparison of aerosol- and tracer-gas-based methods

German Aerospace Center (DLR), Institute of Aerodynamics and Flow Technology, Department Ground Vehicles, Bunsenstr. 10, 37073 Göttingen, Germany

^* Corresponding author: michael.mommert@dlr.de

Abstract

Assessing air quality indicators, including the age of air, by means of tracer-gas measurements is a prevalent technique used to evaluate the effectiveness of indoor ventilation systems. The COVID-19 pandemic has recently drawn attention to the transmission of pathogens via indoor air flows. Measurement techniques for the investigation and characterization of ventilation effects have moved from global to local measurements, using local aerosol sources and particle sensors to determine the aerosol dispersion of specific source-receptor combinations. The study at hand introduces a new test environment that can be used to carry out such investigations. It is a n modular conference room equipped with 20 thermal manikins that simulate the obstruction and heat release of a human body. The study further aims to determine the capacity to estimate air age using investigations that involve distributed or local tracer injections.