Numerical assessment of ceiling-mounted air curtain on the particle distribution in surgical zone

Tan, Huiyi and Wong, Keng Yinn and Lee, Chew Tin and Wong, Syie Luing and Nyakuma, Bemgba Bevan and Wahab, Roswanira Abdul and Lee, Kee Quen and Chiong, Meng Choung and Ho, Wai Shin and Othman, Mohd Hafiz Dzarfan and Yau, Yat Huang and Kek, Hong Yee and Kamar, Haslinda Mohamed (2023) Numerical assessment of ceiling-mounted air curtain on the particle distribution in surgical zone. Journal of Thermal Analysis and Calorimetry, 148 (8). pp. 3005-3018. ISSN 1388-6150, DOI https://doi.org/10.1007/s10973-022-11466-6.

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Abstract

The airflow distribution in an operating room plays a vital role in preventing surgical site infection by diluting and removing particles released by medical staff, lowering particle settlement on a patient. This study aims to computationally examine the efficiency of a ceiling-mounted air curtain in reducing particle distribution in a surgical zone. A computational fluid dynamic (CFD) software simulated an operating room's airflow and particle movements using the corresponding Re-Normalisation Group (RNG) k-epsilon model and a Lagrangian model. The baseline case and case 1 simulations were equipped with air supply diffusers, while cases 2 to 5 utilised combined air supply diffusers and air curtains. The results revealed that an air curtain fails to reduce particle settlement on a patient. In fact, the use of air curtain in cases 2, 3, 4, and 5 led to an unwanted 3.3-, 4.3-, 3.0-, and 6.7-fold increased particle settlement, respectively. On a positive note, the study found that increasing the area of the air supply diffuser from 4.32 to 7.74 m(2) favourably reduced the number of particles by 33.3%.

Item Type: Article
Funders: UNSPECIFIED
Uncontrolled Keywords: Air curtain; CFD simulation; Particle settlement; Operating room; Air diffuser
Subjects: T Technology > T Technology (General)
T Technology > TJ Mechanical engineering and machinery
Divisions: Faculty of Engineering
Faculty of Engineering > Department of Mechanical Engineering
Depositing User: Ms Zaharah Ramly
Date Deposited: 01 Nov 2024 08:32
Last Modified: 01 Nov 2024 08:32
URI: http://eprints.um.edu.my/id/eprint/39501

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