Skip to main content

Table 1 Previous literatures on the effects of human movement on contaminant transmission

From: Effect of human movement on airborne disease transmission in an airplane cabin: study using numerical modeling and quantitative risk analysis

Author, date

Method

Moving object

Environment

Contaminant

Results

Bjørn and Nielsen [12]

experiment

a life-sized breathing thermal manikin

full-scale test rooms

tracer gas (dinitrogenoxide, N2O)

Exhalation and local effects caused by movement may be worth considering if one wishes to contain contaminants in certain areas

Matsumoto and Ohba [10]

experiment

a movable heated object

a full-scale room model

\

The moving object mode and speed showed a significant effect on the air temperature distribution and ventilation effectiveness

Shih et al. [13]

CFD

simple object model

an isolated room

tracer gas (carbon dioxide, CO2)

The removal of contaminants was not obviously affected by the moving speed

Choi and Edwards [15]

CFD

a realistic walking human model

a Room–Room and a Room–Hall configuration

particle

The rate of mass transport increases as the walking speed increases, but the total amount of material transported is more influenced by the initial proximity of the human from the doorway.

Mazumdar et al. [14]

CFD

simple object model

a single inpatient ward

tracer gas (sulfur hexafluoride, SF6)

The average concentration change in the breathing levels in the ward was generally small

Poussou et al. [11]

experiment

a moving object

a one-tenth scale water-based model

dye

Human movement inside enclosed environments could significantly influence contaminant transport and personal exposures to contaminants.

Mazumdar et al. [8]

CFD

simple object model

an airplane cabin

dye/ tracer gas

The movement of a crew member or a passenger could carry contaminants in its wake to as many rows as the person passed

Wang and Chow [17]

CFD

three different moving human models

an isolation room

expiratory droplets

Human walking disturbed the local velocity field, and the increase of walking speed could effectively reduce the overall number of suspended droplets

Choi and Edwards [16]

CFD

a realistic walking human model

a room compartment

tracer gas (sulfur hexafluoride, SF6)

Faster walking speed resulted in less mass transport from the contaminated room into the clean room