https://doi.org/10.1140/epjp/s13360-024-04899-5
Regular Article
Use of air curtains for creating safe areas in bodybuilding salons for controlling the spread of SARS-CoV-2-carrying respiratory droplets
1
Center of Computational Energy, Department of Mechanical Engineering, Hakim Sabzevari University, Sabzevar, Iran
2
Department of Mechanical Engineering, Andong National University, Andong, South Korea
3
Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, Clarkson University, 13699-5725, Potsdam, NY, USA
b
es.lakzian@pyunji.andong.ac.kr
Received:
4
January
2023
Accepted:
15
January
2024
Published online:
24
January
2024
In this study, the spreading of cough droplets emitted by an infected person in a bodybuilding salon in the presence of an air curtain system was investigated using computational fluid dynamics (CFD) simulations. The RNG k-ε model was used to simulate turbulent airflows in the bodybuilding salon. The Eulerian–Lagrangian model was used for cough droplet dispersion simulation. This study introduced various innovative elements that contributed to advancing the field. First, it presented a groundbreaking air curtain flow pattern designed for bodybuilding salons. Second, the study employed user-defined functions (UDFs) to model airflow containing cough droplets and their evaporation, providing a comprehensive understanding of droplet behavior. Third, the risk of infection was evaluated using the Wells–Riley equation and then the effect of relative humidity on droplet evaporation in bodybuilding salons. Air curtain flow pattern, requiring no structural changes to the building while optimizing energy consumption, preventing the spread of viruses and dust, and ensuring fresh air circulation throughout the salon, can be implemented in various public and private spaces. The air curtains were generated using two narrow inlets at the ceiling with floor-level outlets to separate the indoor environments into compartments with limited mass transfers but unlimited access through the opening between these spaces. The simulation results showed that when the air curtain ventilation system was used, 60s after the cough, the average cough droplet concentrations in some areas are at nearly 5%. There were no droplets in the bodybuilding salon after the 90s and the virus-carrying droplets stayed in the space between the air curtains and did not spread in the salon. The study evaluates the risk using the Wells–Riley equation of infection for individuals in the bodybuilding salon, providing valuable insights into the potential vulnerabilities and the need for precautions in this setting. The infection risk of a healthy person in areas A1, A4, and A7 is 21%, 33%, and 25%, respectively, but in areas A2, A3, and A5–A9, the infection risk is less than 1%. The reason is that the airflow pattern created by the air curtain reduces or prevents the spread of virus-carrying droplets to the other compartment generated by the air curtains and also makes the environment safer. These findings significantly enhanced safety measures and controlled droplet spread in these indoor spaces.
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© The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Società Italiana di Fisica and Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature 2024. Springer Nature or its licensor (e.g. a society or other partner) holds exclusive rights to this article under a publishing agreement with the author(s) or other rightsholder(s); author self-archiving of the accepted manuscript version of this article is solely governed by the terms of such publishing agreement and applicable law.
