Development of Analytical Models for Hybrid Ventilation Systems

Taking measures to ensure the health and safety of occupants within buildings due to airborne contaminants will likely be more important than ever as the world comes out of the Covid-19 pandemic. Despite significant advances in our understanding of room ventilation over the past 20-years there is a fundamentally limited understanding of how the influence of the motions created by internal sources of room heating and cooling, and draughts, are linked to the spread of airborne clouds of contaminant, e.g. those released in a human breath.

The project aims to develop this understanding and thereby to determine whether the airborne spread of pollutants can be mitigated by natural and mechanical ventilation strategies or a hybrid strategy. The approach will be to develop and validate simplified mathematical models of these situations, ultimately to enable rapid prediction of the spread of pollutant clouds in ventilated spaces, both single spaces and connected spaces, for use in decision-making and in developing strategies that mitigate pollutant spread whilst maintaining comfortable environments.

Relates to the following EPSRC Research Areas: Fluid Dynamics and Aerodynamics, Built Environment