• Particle and aerosol research
• /
• v.18 no.4
• /
• pp.87-95
• /
• 2022

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.

• Particle and aerosol research
• /
• v.17 no.2
• /
• pp.37-42
• /
• 2021

Although the installation of droplet protection screen (DPS) is known to prevent droplet transmission, there is still a lack of knowledge in effectiveness of DPS installation to block the airborne transmission. In this study, the prevention ability of DPS against airborne transmission was evaluated according to the DPS height. When the DPS was not installed, the maximum concentration of PM1.0 at the location opposite to infected person was 35% of that at the infected person location. When the DPS was installed, the DPS effectively prevented the airborne transmission, consequently approximately 7% of generated particles were measured at the opposite location from particle generation position (infected person location). The prevention ability of DPS increased with DPS height, the maximum prevention efficiency of 95.1% was obtained when the DPS height was 900mm. Moreover, the speed of airborne transmission was delayed by installation of DPS, and the delay time increased with DPS height.

• Corrosion Science and Technology
• /
• v.3 no.2
• /
• pp.47-53
• /
• 2004

The conditions to simulate the atmospheric corrosion behavior in the laboratory were investigated to clarify atmospheric corrosion mechanism of steel material in coastal area, For airborne sea salt and artificial seawater droplet, the various behaviors were observed by optical microscope, The particle size of the dried airborne sea salt was about $20{\mu}m$, and was about 1/10 compared with the artificial seawater droplet. Though the airborne sea salt represented the same behavior as the thermodynamic water absorption, the behavior of the artificial seawater droplet deviated from the results of the thermodynamic calculation, It is concluded that the water absorption behavior is influenced by the particle size of the dried sea salt. The corrosion behaviors of carbon steels were observed under the deposited condition of airborne sea salt and artificial seawater droplet. The corrosion behaviors showed a different trend, indicating that the corrosion behavior depended on the particle size of the dried sea salt. The corrosion in the actual environrnent progressed greater than that in the chamber. Furthermore, the summer showed the greater corrosion than the spring. It is found that the corrosion behaviors are attributed to the influence of the environmental factors.

• Journal of The Korean Society of Agricultural Engineers
• /
• v.63 no.5
• /
• pp.39-47
• /
• 2021

With rising concerns about pesticide spray drifts, this study analyzed the drift patterns of two typically-used nozzles, XR nozzle and AI nozzle, concerning their working pressures and wind speeds by wind tunnel experiments. AI nozzle showed low drift potential with larger droplet sizes compared to XR nozzle. Airborne and deposition drifts of XR nozzle were two times higher than those of AI nozzle under high wind speeds (≥2 m s^-1). In all cases, higher working pressures decreased the droplet sizes, thereby increasing the airborne and deposition drifts. Higher wind speeds also resulted in more airborne drifts, while ground deposition was increased under lower wind speeds. These effects of working pressures and wind speeds on the airborne and deposition drifts were observed at leeward distances less than 4 m from the nozzles. However, the airborne and deposition drifts were barely affected by the working pressures and wind speeds at leeward distances more than 11 m. The measurements were fitted to regression models of the drift curve with acceptable R² values greater than 0.8, demonstrating that further studies will be useful to settle domestic issues of spray drifts.

• Korean Journal of Agricultural Science
• /
• v.6 no.2
• /
• pp.192-197
• /
• 1979

Spread factors were tried to determine the diameter of airborne droplet emitted: from the sprayer by the measurements of airborne droplet diameter emitted from the uniform size droplet producer and impression diameter on Kromekote card or Eucalypt's leaf in the different dilute concentration with Geigy Red Herbicide Dye from 0.5% to 2% by weight. The results abtained were as follows; The general form of the equation in the relationship between airborne droplet and impression diameter on Kromekote card or Eucalypt's leaf was an exponential equation as follows; $$Y=aX^b$$ which gave a linear relation on log-log graph paper. The spread factor seemed to be larger in the thin dilute concentration than in the thick dilute concentration. The spread factor was remarkably smaller on Eucalypt's leaf than on Kromekote card due to the penetration of liquid into the leaf and the stomata of the epidermis. The calculated equation of the mean depth of the droplet sprayed on Eucalypt's leaf was the same form as $Y=aX^b$, which implied that the spray liquid was distributed in surplus in accordance with the diameter of the droplet larger than the optimum size droplet to control insect and disease.

• Journal of Environmental Health Sciences
• /
• v.47 no.2
• /
• pp.123-130
• /
• 2021

Objectives: Control methods against severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) aerosols have been introduced. Airborne spreading theories for SARS-CoV-2 were analyzed in this study. Methods: Control methods for airborne microorganisms were discussed. Studies on theoretical estimations for airborne spreading of SARS-CoV-2 were presented and analyzed. Analytic calculations were conducted for explaining control techniques for airborne microorganisms. Results: Control methods for SARS-CoV-2 aerosols can include physical or biological procedures. Characterization of SARS-CoV-2 aerosols and massive clustering infection cases of COVID-19 support the airborne spreading theories of SARS-CoV-2. It is necessary to consider the disadvantages of control methods for airborne microorganisms. Conclusions: A study on control methods against bioaerosols is necessary to prevent the spreading of viruses. Airborne spreading theories of SARS-CoV-2 were supported by the current evidence, but further studies are needed to confirm these theories.

• Journal of The Korean Society of Agricultural Engineers
• /
• v.61 no.5
• /
• pp.79-87
• /
• 2019

With desires for safe food, there is growing concern that pesticide spray drift will expose people, plants, and the environment to pesticide residue and potential negative effects thereof. For highly efficient, safe spray application, technologies for measuring the spray drift should be developed and improved with some urgency. This study investigated the applicability of two optical particle counters (OPCs), which are mostly used to measure airborne particle mass concentration, for measurement of airborne pesticide spray drift. Experiments were conducted in a controlled laboratory and an ash tree orchard to evaluate the handiness and accuracy of two OPCs, OPC 1 and OPC 2. The experimental results indicated that the OPC 1 was better applicable to the measurement of spray drift in the field while the use of the OPC 2 was limited due to its narrow range of measurable droplet sizes. The readings of the OPC 1 produced highly accurate results ($R^2=0.9637$) compared to the actual spray drift. For better application of OPCs, this study suggests the OPCs should be positioned properly to inhale spray droplets of the appropriate size and concentration.

• Journal of Korean Society of Occupational and Environmental Hygiene
• /
• v.30 no.2
• /
• pp.109-123
• /
• 2020

Objectives: The aims of this study were to review the standards and key components of the standards for disposable masks in Korea, the US, EU, Japan, and China and to evaluate the appropriateness of disposable masks during a virus pandemic. Methods: We reviewed the standards in the above countries and compared their key elements for each standard. For the second purpose, systemic paper gathering using key words like 'mask', 'respirator' 'virus', and 'coronavirus' in the PubMed search engine was performed. Fifty-three papers were selected and reviewed in regard to the appropriateness of test protocols with sodium chloride(NaCl) particles for virus filtration and the effectiveness against viruses. Results: The standards for masks are largely divided into two categories: US standards and EU standards. In Korea, the Ministry of Employment and Labor adapted the EU standards for workers and the Health Masks adopted the Ministry of Employment and Labor standards by the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety. Regarding airborne viral infections, WHO emphasizes only droplet infection, while many studies have shown that small particles enter the air through coughing or sneezing, which increases the possibility of airborne infection. Compared to other particles, various factors such as airborne viability and the ability to replicate the virus in the body are further involved in the virus's airborne infection rate. Airborne infection is classified into absolute air infection, preferential air infection, and opportunistic air infection. The NaCl-certified N95 mask showed good filtration efficiency against viruses and NaCl particles were proved to be a surrogate material for viruses. From this, KF94 is also expected to be effective in blocking viruses. Conclusion: The N95 test method could be used as a surrogate test method for virus filtration. N95-class masks have been found to effectively block viral infections in the air. However, surgical or medical masks are only partially effective against airborne virus infection though they could effectively block large droplet infection. However, most studies considered in this study targeted N95 in foreign countries and studies on masks actually used in Korea are very limited, so studies on microorganisms and reuse on domestic masks should be conducted in the future.

• The Transactions of the Korean Institute of Electrical Engineers C
• /
• v.52 no.9
• /
• pp.388-394
• /
• 2003

Many toxic pesticides as aqueous-base sprays are dispensed for protection of food crops from pests into farm fields. When dispensed with conventional nozzles, a large portion of the spray is often lost by airborne drifts of droplets away and lack of deposition onto the plants due to rapid gravitational settling of droplets to the soil beneath. And target deposition efficiencies poorer than 20％ are often encountered in agricultural pesticides. An electrostatic spraying technology offers a very favorable means to increasing pesticides droplets deposition onto biological surfaces of living crops. In this paper a corona type spray nozzle, utilizing a set of corona charging devices and a pulsed droplet-charging voltage applied, has been proposed and tested its potential experimentally. As a result, it exhibits a large current deposition of aqueous pesticide sprays on the sensing target, which, however, promise to be as one of the effective electrostatic spraying nozzle.

• Journal of The Korean Society of Agricultural Engineers
• /
• v.54 no.3
• /
• pp.37-45
• /
• 2012

Recently, the livestock industry in Korea was heavily affected by the outbreak of official livestock diseases such as foot and mouse disease, high pathogenic avian influenza, swine influenza, and so on. It has been established that these diseases are being spread through direct contact, droplet and airborne transmission. Among these transmissions, airborne transmission is very complex in conducting field investigation due to the invisibility of the pathogens and unstable weather conditions. In this study, the airborne transmission was thoroughly investigated inside a pig house by conducting tracer gas ($CO_2$) experiment because experiment with real pathogen is limited and dangerous. This is possible as it can be assumed that the flow is similar pattern very fine particles and gas. In the experiment, the ventilation structure as well as the location of gas emission were varied. The $CO_2$ detection sensors were installed at 0.5 and 1.3 m height from the floor surface. The tracer gas level was measured every second. Results revealed that the direction of spread can be determined by the response time. Response time refers to the time to reach 150 ppm from the gas emission source at each measuring points. The location of the main flow as well as the gas emission was also found to be very important factor causing the spread.