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Building Simulation 2010, 3(3): 215-224 https://doi.org/10.1007/s12273-010-0005-4
Research Article | Issue | Published: 30 July 2010

Particle removal efficiency of the portable HEPA air cleaner in a simulated hospital ward

Show Author's Information Hua Qian1,2( ),  Yuguo Li2,  Hequan Sun2,3,  Peter V. Nielsen4,  Xinghua Huang2,  Xiaohong Zheng1
School of Energy and Environment, Southeast University, Nanjing 210096, China
Department of Mechanical Engineering, The University of Hong Kong, Pokfulam, Hong Kong, China
Department of Military Oceanography, Dalian Naval Academy, Dalian 116018, China
Department of Civil Engineering, Aalborg University, DK-9000 Aalborg, Denmark
Keywords:
particle, portable HEPA filter, hospital ward
Cite this article:
Qian H, Li Y, Sun H, et al. Particle removal efficiency of the portable HEPA air cleaner in a simulated hospital ward. Building Simulation, 2010, 3(3): 215-224. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12273-010-0005-4
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Abstract Full text About this article

Use of a HEPA (high efficiency particulate air) filter in a room is believed to assist in reducing the risk of transmission of infectious diseases through removing the particles or large droplets to which pathogens may be attached. Use of a portable HEPA filter(s) in hospital wards is hypothesized to increase the effective ventilation rate (for particles only). Use of a portable HEPA filter is also hypothesized to increase the effective airflow rate of the general ward to the standard of an isolation ward for emerging infection diseases. This may be a good solution for housing patients when the number of beds in an isolation ward is insufficient. An experiment was conducted in a full scale experimental ward with a dimension of 6.7 m × 6 m × 2.7 m and 6 beds to test these hypotheses for a portable HEPA filter. The removal efficiency for different size particles was measured at different locations. The influence of the portable HEPA air cleaner on the airflow pattern was also studied through smoke visualization and computational fluid dynamics (CFD) simulations. Results show that the HEPA filter can effectively decrease the particle concentration level. The effective air change rate achieved by the HEPA filter (for particle removal only) is from 2.7 to 5.6 ACH in the ward. The strong supply air jet from the portable HEPA filter interacted with the room airflow pattern and became dominate, introducing global airflow mixing in the room. Background noise levels were also measured and noise level in the room increased when the maximum airflow of the filter was used.


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About this article

Particle removal efficiency of the portable HEPA air cleaner in a simulated hospital ward

Show Author's information Hua Qian1,2( ), Yuguo Li2, Hequan Sun2,3, Peter V. Nielsen4, Xinghua Huang2, Xiaohong Zheng1
School of Energy and Environment, Southeast University, Nanjing 210096, China
Department of Mechanical Engineering, The University of Hong Kong, Pokfulam, Hong Kong, China
Department of Military Oceanography, Dalian Naval Academy, Dalian 116018, China
Department of Civil Engineering, Aalborg University, DK-9000 Aalborg, Denmark

Abstract

Use of a HEPA (high efficiency particulate air) filter in a room is believed to assist in reducing the risk of transmission of infectious diseases through removing the particles or large droplets to which pathogens may be attached. Use of a portable HEPA filter(s) in hospital wards is hypothesized to increase the effective ventilation rate (for particles only). Use of a portable HEPA filter is also hypothesized to increase the effective airflow rate of the general ward to the standard of an isolation ward for emerging infection diseases. This may be a good solution for housing patients when the number of beds in an isolation ward is insufficient. An experiment was conducted in a full scale experimental ward with a dimension of 6.7 m × 6 m × 2.7 m and 6 beds to test these hypotheses for a portable HEPA filter. The removal efficiency for different size particles was measured at different locations. The influence of the portable HEPA air cleaner on the airflow pattern was also studied through smoke visualization and computational fluid dynamics (CFD) simulations. Results show that the HEPA filter can effectively decrease the particle concentration level. The effective air change rate achieved by the HEPA filter (for particle removal only) is from 2.7 to 5.6 ACH in the ward. The strong supply air jet from the portable HEPA filter interacted with the room airflow pattern and became dominate, introducing global airflow mixing in the room. Background noise levels were also measured and noise level in the room increased when the maximum airflow of the filter was used.

Keywords: particle, portable HEPA filter, hospital ward

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Publication history
Copyright
Acknowledgements

Publication history

Received: 30 November 2009
Revised: 03 May 2010
Accepted: 07 June 2010
Published: 30 July 2010
Issue date: September 2010

Copyright

© Tsinghua University Press and Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg 2010

Acknowledgements

The work described in this paper was supported by the Research Grants Council of the Hong Kong SAR Government (Project No. HKU 7150/06E), Research Grants from National Nature and Science Foundation of China (NSFC) (Project No. 50808038), and Jiangsu Nature and Science Foundation (Project No. BK2009289).

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