Host-to-host airborne transmission as a multiphase flow problem for science-based social distance guidelines
Name
2008.06113.pdf
Description
Submitted version
Size
3.16 MB
Format
Adobe PDF
Checksum (MD5)
34ebe7e7e7c04022fd4ec413977a879a
Author(s)
Balachandar, S
Zaleski, S
Soldati, A
Ahmadi, G
Bourouiba, L
Date Issued
September 2020
Journal
International Journal of Multiphase Flow
Publisher
Elsevier BV
Citation
S. Balachandar, S. Zaleski, A. Soldati, G. Ahmadi, L. Bourouiba, Host-to-host airborne transmission as a multiphase flow problem for science-based social distance guidelines, International Journal of Multiphase Flow, Volume 132, 2020, 103439
Version
Original manuscript
Abstract
© 2020 Elsevier Ltd The COVID-19 pandemic has strikingly demonstrated how important it is to develop fundamental knowledge related to the generation, transport and inhalation of pathogen-laden droplets and their subsequent possible fate as airborne particles, or aerosols, in the context of human to human transmission. It is also increasingly clear that airborne transmission is an important contributor to rapid spreading of the disease. In this paper, we discuss the processes of droplet generation by exhalation, their potential transformation into airborne particles by evaporation, transport over long distances by the exhaled puff and by ambient air turbulence, and their final inhalation by the receiving host as interconnected multiphase flow processes. A simple model for the time evolution of droplet/aerosol concentration is presented based on a theoretical analysis of the relevant physical processes. The modeling framework along with detailed experiments and simulations can be used to study a wide variety of scenarios involving breathing, talking, coughing and sneezing and in a number of environmental conditions, as humid or dry atmosphere, confined or open environment. Although a number of questions remain open on the physics of evaporation and coupling with persistence of the virus, it is clear that with a more reliable understanding of the underlying flow physics of virus transmission one can set the foundation for an improved methodology in designing case-specific social distancing and infection control guidelines.
MIT Department
Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering
Terms of Use
Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs License
Persistent DSpace Link
DOI of Published Version
10.1016/J.IJMULTIPHASEFLOW.2020.103439
