The effect of opening window position on aerosol transmission in an enclosed bus under windless environment

Abstract

The potential risk of spreading a virus during bus transportation motivates us to understand the aerosol transmission of SARS-CoV-2 and seek effective ways to protect passengers in a bus. In this paper, a typical scenario in which the virus spreads in a bus under a windless environment is numerically studied for further understanding of the spreading characteristics of aerosol transmission in an enclosed space. The air flow in the bus and the spreading processes of droplets with different open windows configurations are obtained and analyzed. The variations of droplet concentration in the air with time are examined and analyzed. In addition, the transient droplet concentration deposited on the passengers is also counted to analyze the potential contact transmission. The results indicate that opening a window next to an infected person shows an unsatisfactory performance in limiting droplet spreading range and reducing droplet concentration, eventually leading to a high risk of infection by aerosol transmission following contact transmission. In addition, opening multiple windows also shows an unsatisfactory result for removing droplets in a bus since the turbulence flow accelerates the spreading speed and expands the spreading range. In contrast, the droplets are removed from the indoor space of the bus quickly if a window is opened in the row in front of the infected person, which is beneficial for reducing aerosol and contact transmission in the bus. Furthermore, it is strongly recommended to avoid sitting in the row in front of the infected person where the highest droplet concentration can be observed.