Characterizing exhaled airflow from breathing and talking

Abstract

Accurate prediction of airborne disease transmission, and the infection prone zones, can aid in identifying and implementing the control strategies. With the recent advancements, Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) has become a powerful tool in predicting the disease transmission. Accurate prediction of the transmission by these CFD simulations requires information on sources and sinks of infectious viruses and models for dispersion of these viruses. The exhaled air of an infected human is one of the prime sources of disease viruses. In the present study, measurements of the flow were conducted on human subjects to develop models for the flow boundary conditions for the exhalation and inhalation during breathing and talking.