Analysis of the Ventilation System of an Isolation Room for a Hospital

The present work contains the details of an investigation of air diffusion and comfort issues of an isolation room of a hospital. Two types of cases have been chosen for a unidirectional ventilation system of the isolation room i.e. for immuno-suppressed patients and infectious patients. The patients body is simulated as a cylinder with approximate values for the physical and thermal properties of a human body and is treated as a constant heat source. The height of the inlet vent was varied and mean residence time and draught rating (DR) were studied. The work also involved investigation into the motion and average residence time of a contaminant that could possibly accompany the supply air and the bacteria that can be released from an infectious patients mouth by means of breathing, coughing or sneezing. The results reveal that the height of the inlet vent significantly affects the velocity and draught distributions and the residence times of bacteria and contaminant.