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

• Main Authors: Tan, Huiyi, Wong, Keng Yinn, Lee, Chew Tin, Wong, Syie Luing, Nyakuma, Bemgba Bevan, Abdul Wahab, Roswanira, Lee, Kee Quen, Chiong, Meng Choung, Ho, Wai Shin, Othman, Mohd. Hafiz Dzarfan, Yau, Yat Huang, Kek, Hong Yee, Mohamed Kamar, Haslinda
• Format: Article
• Published: Springer Science & Business Media 2023
• Subjects: QD Chemistry; TJ Mechanical engineering and machinery
• Online Access: http://eprints.utm.my/104845/; http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s10973-022-11466-6

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-ε 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 m2 favourably reduced the number of particles by 33.3%.