Ik-Hyun An, Dong-Bin Kwak, Jungsuk Lee, Su-Hoon Park, Se-Jin Yook
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引用次数: 0
Abstract
Background: Maintaining high indoor air quality (IAQ) in hospital wards is crucial, particularly in settings lacking proper ventilation. This study investigates the effectiveness of air purifiers in enhancing IAQ under varying conditions, including ventilation systems and curtains.
Aim: This study aims to evaluate the optimal operating positions of two air purifiers to enhance IAQ in hospital wards under varying ventilation and curtain use conditions.
Methods: This study employed a combination of experiments and computational fluid dynamics (CFD) simulations across twenty scenarios, analysing the impact of air purifier placement on the age of air, a key IAQ metric.
Findings: This study found that the positioning of air purifiers greatly influenced IAQ, with reductions in the age of air ranging from 19% to 44% depending on the configuration. The most effective placement involved active ventilation systems and unfolded curtains, leading to a significant decrease in the volume-averaged age of air.
Conclusion: This study concludes that optimal placement of air purifiers in hospital wards can significantly improve IAQ, with reductions in the age of air by up to 44%. Specifically, when ventilation systems were active and curtains were unfolded, the age of air was reduced to as low as 318 seconds, representing a 27% to 44% improvement over less-effective configurations. These findings emphasise the critical role of strategic air purifier placement in reducing airborne infection risks and enhancing patient safety in healthcare environments.
期刊介绍：
The Journal of Hospital Infection is the editorially independent scientific publication of the Healthcare Infection Society. The aim of the Journal is to publish high quality research and information relating to infection prevention and control that is relevant to an international audience.
The Journal welcomes submissions that relate to all aspects of infection prevention and control in healthcare settings. This includes submissions that:
provide new insight into the epidemiology, surveillance, or prevention and control of healthcare-associated infections and antimicrobial resistance in healthcare settings;
provide new insight into cleaning, disinfection and decontamination;
provide new insight into the design of healthcare premises;
describe novel aspects of outbreaks of infection;
throw light on techniques for effective antimicrobial stewardship;
describe novel techniques (laboratory-based or point of care) for the detection of infection or antimicrobial resistance in the healthcare setting, particularly if these can be used to facilitate infection prevention and control;
improve understanding of the motivations of safe healthcare behaviour, or describe techniques for achieving behavioural and cultural change;
improve understanding of the use of IT systems in infection surveillance and prevention and control.
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