A Novel Design Strategy to Interrupt the Diffusion of Exhaled Aerosols: An Integrated Experimental-Numerical Investigation

When the COVID-19 patients are accommodated and treated in isolation wards, the high concentration of bioaerosols generated by patients expose health care workers at a risk of infection. At present, partitions have been widely used for the interruption of the bioaerosol transmission in public. Inspired by this application, this study proposed a novel design for installing partial partitions in the isolation ward, and its interrupted effect of bioaerosol diffusion was confirmed. Serratia marcescens was used as bioaerosol releasing sources to study the bioaerosol distribution in the isolation ward. Computational fluid dynamics method was used to further explore the interrupted effect of four partition strategies on aerosol diffusion in the isolation ward. The flow patterns in the ward and the spatiotemporal distribution of aerosols were obtained and analyzed. The results showed that the bioaerosol removal effectiveness index increased from 0.578 to 0.765, which accelerated the bioaerosol removal. On the side of the ward without the patient, the risk of exposure to bioaerosols and aerosol concentration both were significantly reduced. Only selecting a reasonable size and installation position, can the partial partition play a positive role in the interruption of aerosol diffusion. Moreover, small-area partial partition can achieve efficient control of bioaerosol diffusion as well. This study could provide scientific reference for the design of isolation wards or the optimization and renovation of isolation wards .