Classroom aerosol dispersion modeling: experimental assessment of a low-cost flow simulation tool
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Authors
Dacunto, Phil
Nam, S.
Hirn, M.
Rodriguez, A.
Owkes, M.
Benson, Michael J.
Issue Date
2023
Type
journal-article
Language
Keywords
Aerosol Dispersion , indoor air quality , Computational Fluid Dynamics , CFD , SolidWorks Flow Simulation , STAR-CCM
Alternative Title
Abstract
The purpose of this study was to assess the utility of a low-cost flow simulation tool for an indoor air modeling application by comparing its outputs with the results of a physical experiment, as well as those from a more advanced computational fluid dynamics (CFD) software package. Five aerosol dispersion tests were performed in two different classrooms by releasing a CO2 tracer gas from six student locations. Resultant steady-state concentrations were monitored at 13 locations around the periphery of the room. Subsequently, the experiments were modeled using both a low-cost tool (SolidWorks Flow Simulation) and a more sophisticated tool (STAR-CCM+). Models were evaluated based on their ability to predict the experimentally measured concentrations at the 13 monitoring locations by calculating four performance parameters commonly used in the evaluation of dispersion models: fractional mean bias (FB), normalized mean-square error (NMSE), fraction of predicted value within a factor of two (FAC2), and normalized absolute difference (NAD). The more sophisticated model performed better in 15 of the 20 possible cases (five tests at four parameters each), with parameters meeting acceptance criteria in 19 of 20 cases. However, the lower-cost tool was only slightly worse, with parameters meeting acceptance criteria in 18 of 20 cases, and it performed better than the other tool in 3 of 20 cases. Because it provides useful results at a fraction of the monetary and training cost and is already widely accessible to many institutions, such a tool may be worthwhile for many indoor aerosol dispersion applications, especially for students or researchers just beginning CFD modeling.
Environmental Significance:
The maintenance of healthy indoor air is important to prevent the spread of airborne pathogens and other harmful pollutants. Modeling spaces using computational fluid dynamics (CFD) can be useful for determining the optimal room and ventilation configuration for maximizing occupant health, but such software can be expensive and difficult to learn. A CFD tool that provides reasonably accurate results at significantly lower cost could be useful for many institutions as either an end itself or an initial modeling option.
Description
Citation
Dacunto P, Nam S, Hirn M, Rodriguez A, Owkes M, Benson M (2023) “Classroom aerosol dispersion modeling: experimental assessment of a low-cost flow simulation tool.” Environmental Science: Processes and Impacts 25: 2157-2166. https://doi.org/10.1039/d3em00356f
Publisher
Royal Society of Chemistry (RSC)
License
Journal
Volume
Issue
PubMed ID
ISSN
2050-7887
2050-7895
2050-7895