Particle and aerosol research (한국입자에어로졸학회지)

Korean Association for Particle and Aerosol Research (한국입자에어로졸학회)
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Effectiveness of droplet protective screens and portable air purifiers against droplet and airborne transmission during conversation

비말 가림막과 휴대형 공기청정기 사용에 의한 대화 중 비말 및 공기전파 저감 효과

  • Jieun, Heo (Climate Change Research Division, Korea Institute of Energy Research) ;
  • Dongho, Shin (Climate Change Research Division, Korea Institute of Energy Research) ;
  • Hee-Joo, Cho (Climate Change Research Division, Korea Institute of Energy Research) ;
  • Hyun-Seol, Park (Climate Change Research Division, Korea Institute of Energy Research) ;
  • Yun-Haeng, Joe (Climate Change Research Division, Korea Institute of Energy Research)
  • 허지은 (한국에너지기술연구원 기후변화연구본부) ;
  • 신동호 (한국에너지기술연구원 기후변화연구본부) ;
  • 조희주 (한국에너지기술연구원 기후변화연구본부) ;
  • 박현설 (한국에너지기술연구원 기후변화연구본부) ;
  • 조윤행 (한국에너지기술연구원 기후변화연구본부)
  • Received : 2022.06.02
  • Accepted : 2022.07.28
  • Published : 2022.12.31
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Abstract

Currently, droplet protective screens (DPSs) are used to prevent the spread of respiratory diseases. As virus particles can maintain their infective in indoor environments, recent studies have investigated the risk of airborne transmission. However, the ability of DPSs to block airborne transmission has not been verified yet. In this study, the preventive ability of DPSs against droplet and airborne transmission was evaluated. Moreover, the effectiveness of a Portable air purifier (PAP) was investigated. According to results, in a simulated room where an infectious person spoke, the DPS blocked more than 90% of the micron-sized droplets (with a diameter larger than 1 ㎛) transmitted to the front of the infectious person. However, sub-micron droplets (with a diameter smaller than 1 ㎛) passed through the DPS and spread in a room. However, the PAP reduced the amount of both micron and sub-micron droplets transmitted to the front of the infectious person. When the PAP airflow direction was set from the DPS surface to the free space near the infectious person, improved prevention against droplet and airborne transmission was recorded. However, airborne transmission was accelerated when the PAP airflow direction was set from the free space to the DPS surface.

Keywords

Acknowledgement

This work was supported by the Industrial Strategic Technology Development Program (20007027, Mutually beneficial cooperative air purifying automobiles against atmospheric fine particles) funded by the Ministry of Trade, Industry & Energy (MOTIE, Korea).

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