A COMPUTATIONAL FLUID DYNAMICS APPROACH FOR HOSPITALIZATION AT HOME DURING THE PANDEMIC

Recently due to the COVID-19 pandemic, caused by the SARS-COV-2 virus which spreads via airborne transmission, there has been greater attention on the concept of acute hospitalization at home (HaH). Whilst HaH has been investigated for over three decades, the need for development of this method was highlighted by the pandemic which overloaded tertiary (hospital) health care services. HaH requires advanced medical equipment that is not always readily available for non-wealthy households; however middle-class households have the means to purchase less advanced ventilation equipment to treat the air, for example, using HEPA filters in a particulate air cleaner (CC 410). To assess the ventilation efficiency, Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) modelling using ANSYS CFX 2022 R2 is applied and then validated experimentally to ensure the reduction of CO2 concentration in the HaH space in terms of age of air (AoA). Additionally, thermal comfort parameters were assessed using CFD modelling and validated experimentally. The predicted mean vote (PMV) and percentage dissatisfaction (PPD) while running the device were aligned with the ASHRAE 55 standard to ensure users would not switch off the device based on dissatisfaction or discomfort. The results show that the device improved the AoA in 105 seconds of the time of CO2 produced by one of the occupants in the room. This type of analysis is helpful to reduce the time during a crucial period of treatment, when infected occupants are hospitalized at home up to a maximum space of 140 m(2).