Dispersion, Interaction and Ventilation Control of Exhalation Pollutants in Hospital Wards

Effective control of indoor air environment in hospital wards has become an important issue since the SARS outbreak in 2003. This research will aim at studying dispersion of exhalation gases from a patient under different ventilation systems and develop new ventilation methods to reduce the risk of cross infection via airborne droplet nuclei in hospital wards. An improved risk estimation model for airborne infection are developed and apply it in analyzing one or two super spreading events of SARS in hospitals. Experimental and computational fluid dynamics studies in a full-scale test room with two breathing thermal manikins have been made.