Effectiveness of Ventilating Headboards in Protecting Health-Care Workers in Hospital Rooms

Effectiveness of Ventilating Headboards in Protecting Health-Care Workers in Hospital Rooms

Bibliographic Details
Main Author: Dungi, Santosh Roopak
Language:English
Published: University of Cincinnati / OhioLINK 2014
Subjects:
Mechanics
cough droplet
ventilation
HEPA filter
ventilated headboard
Online Access:http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=ucin1406881263
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spelling ndltd-OhioLink-oai-etd.ohiolink.edu-ucin14068812632021-08-03T06:26:42Z Effectiveness of Ventilating Headboards in Protecting Health-Care Workers in Hospital Rooms Dungi, Santosh Roopak Mechanics cough droplet ventilation HEPA filter ventilated headboard This study brings out the need for contaminant removal techniques like the use of a coupled ventilated headboard (or a hood) and, High Efficiency Particulate Air (HEPA) filter units. It numerically examines the effectiveness of the hood and the HEPA filter in eliminating virus droplets originating from a patient cough in a traditional hospital room and protects the health-care workers (HCWs) from pandemic flu diseases. The air flow pattern in the room was modeled by solving the Reynolds-averaged Navier- Stokes equations along with the continuity and the energy equation. To track the virus or the cough droplets, the lagrangian discrete phase model was used with the finite volume solver ANSYS Fluent 14. The present study had been done for different configurations of the hood and HEPA filtration system in a patient room. Without the hood arrangement, in the room, the virus droplets were found approaching the exhaust and the main door leakages in 35 seconds, indicating the possibility of the droplets to escape through the main door leakages. The HCW was also found to be exposed to the virus droplets in this period. In the other configurations with the hood arrangement, the hood in the operating position, with the HEPA filter on was very effective in eliminating 99% of virus concentration within 25 seconds, not allowing any droplets to come out of the hood. However, the hood was found ineffective in its retracted position, with the HEPA filter both on/off because, half of the suction area was getting covered by the plastic sheeting in the hood during retraction. As the hood failed to eliminate the droplets, the HCW was exposed to the virus and the risk of droplets escaping through the main door leakages was also observed. Thus, the hood and the HEPA filter arrangement is very effective in preventing the infection from escaping the room and also minimizing the HCW exposure to the virus. The ventilation arrangement and the virus droplet behavior in all the configurations is carefully analyzed and discussed in this study. The trajectory of the droplets is compared with the local air flow direction and the deviation in the droplet trajectory from the air flow pathlines is predicted on the basis of the Stokes number. 2014-10-13 English text University of Cincinnati / OhioLINK http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=ucin1406881263 http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=ucin1406881263 unrestricted This thesis or dissertation is protected by copyright: all rights reserved. It may not be copied or redistributed beyond the terms of applicable copyright laws.
collection NDLTD
language English
sources NDLTD
topic Mechanics
cough droplet
ventilation
HEPA filter
ventilated headboard
spellingShingle Mechanics
cough droplet
ventilation
HEPA filter
ventilated headboard
Dungi, Santosh Roopak
Effectiveness of Ventilating Headboards in Protecting Health-Care Workers in Hospital Rooms
author Dungi, Santosh Roopak
author_facet Dungi, Santosh Roopak
author_sort Dungi, Santosh Roopak
title Effectiveness of Ventilating Headboards in Protecting Health-Care Workers in Hospital Rooms
title_short Effectiveness of Ventilating Headboards in Protecting Health-Care Workers in Hospital Rooms
title_full Effectiveness of Ventilating Headboards in Protecting Health-Care Workers in Hospital Rooms
title_fullStr Effectiveness of Ventilating Headboards in Protecting Health-Care Workers in Hospital Rooms
title_full_unstemmed Effectiveness of Ventilating Headboards in Protecting Health-Care Workers in Hospital Rooms
title_sort effectiveness of ventilating headboards in protecting health-care workers in hospital rooms
publisher University of Cincinnati / OhioLINK
publishDate 2014
url http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=ucin1406881263
work_keys_str_mv AT dungisantoshroopak effectivenessofventilatingheadboardsinprotectinghealthcareworkersinhospitalrooms
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