Energy, economic, and environmental impacts of enhanced ventilation strategies on railway coaches to reduce Covid-19 contagion risks

Barone, Giovanni; Buonomano, Annamaria; Forzano, Cesare; Giuzio, Giovanni Francesco; Palombo, Adolfo

doi:10.1016/j.energy.2022.124466

Cited by 14 publications

(6 citation statements)

References 66 publications

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“…On the other hand, fewer individuals were wearing face masks in the bus with the higher secondary attack rate, which strengthens the possible association between ventilation and reduced risk of developing COVID-19. Experimental studies from trains confirm that adequate ventilation decreased the propagation of airborne particles and thus reduce risks of SARS-CoV-2 transmission [ 62 , 63 ].…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Indoor Air Quality and COVID-19: A Scoping Review

Braggion,

Dugerdil,

Wilson

et al. 2024

Public Health Rev

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Objectives: The COVID-19 pandemic has been a major public health concern for the past 3 years. Scientific evidence on the relationship between SARS-CoV-2 infection and indoor air quality still needs to be demonstrated. This scoping review aims to study the association between air quality indoors and COVID-19.Methods: A scoping review analyzing the association between indoor air quality and epidemiological outcomes was conducted. Papers published between 1 January 2020 and 31 October 2022 were included. Hospital settings were excluded from the study.Results: Eight relevant articles met the inclusion criteria. Indoor settings included workplaces, schools, restaurants, and public transport. Types of ventilation used to improve indoor air quality were dilution methods (opening windows) and mechanical systems with or without filtration or purifier. CO2 sensors were employed in one study. All the studies showed a positive association between indoor air quality and its improvement and epidemiological indicators.Conclusion: The findings of this scoping review indicate that indoor air quality, which can be improved with ventilation methods, may reduce the risk of developing COVID-19. Ventilation could thus be viewed as a possible effective mitigating method.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Indoor Air Quality and COVID-19: A Scoping Review

Braggion,

Dugerdil,

Wilson

et al. 2024

Public Health Rev

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“…In [39], the authors assess the energy, economic, and environmental impacts of enhanced ventilation strategies in railway coaches using the Wells-Riley model on a real train as a case study. The work in [40] analyses optimization strategies to reduce energy consumption while meeting the demands of epidemic prevention, also using the Wells-Riley model, in several reference-building typologies.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Improving the Indoor Air Quality of Office Buildings in the Post-Pandemic Era—Impact on Energy Consumption and Costs

D’Agostino,

Minelli,

Minichiello

et al. 2024

Energies

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Before the COVID-19 pandemic, ventilation in buildings was not always given its due importance. The World Health Organization has highlighted the important role of air exchange with the outdoors in improving the air quality in buildings; buildings should, therefore, be equipped with mechanical ventilation or adequate air conditioning systems. This paper aims to investigate different retrofit solutions for air conditioning, evaluating them in terms of energy consumption and cost and the impact of increased outdoor air exchange rates on countering the propagation of COVID-19; the latter is the main novelty of the paper. As a case study, we take an existing office building located in Central Italy that was previously not equipped with a mechanical ventilation system (a system with primary air was introduced during the study). The energy analysis was conducted using dynamic simulation software after validation through energy bills; energy and economic analyses were conducted considering different external-air exchange rates. An optimal number of outdoor air changes was found to mitigate the risk of COVID-19 infection, a finding in line with the international literature. The increase in air changes with outdoor air leads to a rise in energy consumption and costs. These values were evaluated for different air conditioning systems and operational schedules. These drawbacks can be made less significant by combining interventions in the system with energy-efficiency measures applied to the building envelope.

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“…Among these countermeasures, ventilation is the easiest and most effective for preventing the spread of COVID-19. Barone et al, 2022) Ventilation is extremely important for spaces where many people gather. (Nishiura et al, 2020) Vehicles and buildings are designed to allow ventilation; however, they are not designed based on the assumption of a pandemic, and the design prioritizes the efficiency of air conditioning.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Ventilation design of tour buses for suppressing airborne transmission and highly efficient virus elimination in post COVID-19 period

MAKIHIRA,

OKUMURA

2024

Mechanical Engineering Journal

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Measures to prevent the spread of COVID-19 are critical across the globe. A tour bus can carry passengers; however, the small, closed space becomes congested owing to their presence for long periods. Therefore, there is an increased risk of infection on tour buses. The air outlet of the air conditioner in a tour bus was designed to prioritize heating and cooling over ventilation. This study aims to improve the ventilation performance of tour buses. Therefore, a large-scale ventilation simulation was performed using a supercomputer. The results are as follows: (1) when the overall air flow rate of the ventilation is fixed, new outlets must be installed in the upper rear part of the tour bus for rapid ventilation; and (2) the ventilation efficiency was higher when a few highoutput outlets were installed instead of several low-output outlets. The reason for the more effective ventilation was to create a large airflow in the tour bus. We proposed the design of a highly efficient ventilation system in an existing bus space and elucidated the appropriate layout of ventilation outlets and the optimal protocol for opening windows.

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Energy, economic, and environmental impacts of enhanced ventilation strategies on railway coaches to reduce Covid-19 contagion risks

Cited by 14 publications

References 66 publications

Indoor Air Quality and COVID-19: A Scoping Review

Indoor Air Quality and COVID-19: A Scoping Review

Improving the Indoor Air Quality of Office Buildings in the Post-Pandemic Era—Impact on Energy Consumption and Costs

Ventilation design of tour buses for suppressing airborne transmission and highly efficient virus elimination in post COVID-19 period

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