Negative Air Pressure Isolation Room for COVID-19 Patients in the Philippines: A Simulation of the Proposed Design using SolidWorks

Abstract

Since the start of the 2019 pandemic, medical staff and non-medical staff are fighting on the front line in all hospitals worldwide. However, the possibility of healthcare workers' scarcity due to the increasing medical infection rate is ignored in many recent studies. To prevent such things to happen, the installation of a negative air pressure isolation room is proposed to Norzagaray Municipal Hospital (NMH). Primary parameters such as filtration, pressure management, and dilution ventilation were investigated in SOLIDWORKS simulation software by removing one parameter per simulation. Two existing schemes were simulated, and the primary parameters present were evaluated. Three ventilation design set-ups were designed and the effects of the varying placements of the primary parameters to the airflow pattern in a negative air pressure isolation room were determined. Cost-benefit analysis (CBA) was conducted to determine if the cost of installing the negative air pressure room outweighs its benefit. The set-up where the High efficiency particulate air (HEPA) machine is inside the room is proposed to NMH as this abides by the Department of Health (DOH) memorandum and standards on Airborne Infection Isolation Rooms (AIIRs) and is the most effective of the three set-ups. Results show that filtration filters the infectious particles, pressure management manages the proper airflow direction, and dilution ventilation makes sure there are enough air changes per hour to filter a percentage of infectious particles. In the existing schemes, all the primary parameters were used to contain the infectious particles in the room, however, the effectivity of the filtration also depends on the location of the patient, supply, and exhaust. The most significant effect of the varying placements of the primary parameters can be seen in filtration as only the set-up where the HEPA machine is inside the room was able to filter 100% of the infectious particles. It is also the most profitable ventilation design set-up with a 2.08 CBA ratio and has the least payback period of 5.8 months.

Classroom aerosol dispersion modeling: experimental assessment of a low-cost flow simulation tool

“…One study by Bustarde et al used it to optimize the design of an isolation room for COVID-19 patients in the Philippines. 23 Another study by Hirn et al, which was a precursor to the study herein, used the SolidWorks tool to perform a sensitivity analysis of boundary conditions for a ow simulation model of a classroom. 24 Although modeling has the advantage of being precise and repeatable, it is not necessarily accurate.…”