Enhancement effect of human movement on the high risk range of viral aerosols exhaled by a sitting person

Highlights

•    Enhancement effect of human movement on high risk range of exhaled aerosols was proposed.

•    The forward range increased from 1.5 m to 3.0 m, the lateral range from 1.3 m to 2.0 m

•    Transient indoor airflow characteristics in a human movement scenario were described in detail.

•    At the distance 0.25, 0.55 and 1.05 m, induced airflow velocity was up to 0.64, 0.37 and 0.25 m/s.

•    The increase in ventilation might limit the high risk range of viral aerosols.

Abstract

Human movement could affect viral aerosol transmission. We carried out full-scale experiments to study the effect of human movement on viral aerosols exhaled by a sitting thermal breathing manikin (STBM), and describe the indoor airflow characteristic. In static scenarios, the aerosol concentration decreased rapidly beyond 1.5m from a source person.

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