Large eddy simulation of contaminants dispersion in ship isolation room

  Objectives  Conducting studies on contaminant dispersion during the door-opening process of isolation rooms and quantitatively comparing and evaluating the diffusion characteristics of contaminated air under different negative pressure conditions is of great significance for the design of negative pressure systems for the isolation rooms of ships.

  Methods  Based on the large eddy simulation (LES) method and a combination of tracer gas component transport equations, numerical simulations were conducted to investigate contaminated air dispersion during the door-opening process of isolation rooms. The flow field characteristics and pollutant dispersion process during the dynamic opening of the door under different differential pressure conditions were then compared and analyzed.

  Results   The results show that the sensitivity analysis of mesh resolution and time step with total pollutant diffusion as the evaluation index can ensure the reliability of the LES simulation results. Further analysis shows that under the combination of different differential pressures and door-opening induced flows, there is a significant difference between the magnitude of the fluid velocity peak and the time when the peak appears. Increasing the negative pressure value of the isolation room can reduce the peak of pollutant diffusion and shorten the time for the diffused pollutant to return to the isolation room under the differential pressure.

  Conclusions  The results obtained in this paper can provide guidance for the design of ship isolation rooms.