Numerical Simulation of Pathogen Transport Around Buildings

The unsteady development of pathogens in a room with infective patients is simulated by the non-linear population dynamic model of virus infection. Assuming the indoor pathogen emitting outside from windows, the emitting pathogens are taken as a source for simulating the transmission of pathogen around buildings with airflow. The two-dimensional Reynolds-averaged Navier-Stokes equations coupled with RNG k - epsiv turbulence model is adopted to simulate the wind flow field. By assuming no secondary infection, the time-dependent concentration of pathogen around a group of buildings is obtained and the infectious area can be determined with the known pathogenic concentration. After cutting off the pathogen source at different development stages, the safe returned time for resident is outlined. The present research is useful for forecasting and controlling the spread of airborne disease virus around buildings.