Impact of airflow interaction on inhaled air quality and transport of contaminants in rooms with personalized and total volume ventilation

The impact of airflow interaction on inhaled air quality and transport of contaminants betweenoccupants was studied in regard to pollution from floor covering, human bioeffluents andexhaled air, with combinations of two personalized ventilation systems (PV) with mixing anddisplacement ventilation. In total, 80 l/s of clean air supplied at 20C was distributed betweenthe ventilation systems at different combinations of personalized airflow rate. Two breathingthermal manikins were used to simulate occupants in a full-scale test room. Regardless of theairflow interaction, the inhaled air quality with personalized and mixing ventilation washigher or at least similar compared to mixing ventilation alone. In the case of PV combinedwith displacement ventilation, the interaction caused mixing of the room air, an increase in thetransport of bioeffluents and exhaled air between occupants and, at low flow rates ofpersonalized air a decrease in the quality of the inhaled air compared to displacementventilation alone. The PV system supplying air against the face improved the ventilationefficiency in regard to the floor pollution up to 20 times and up to 13 times in regard tobioeffluents and exhaled air, compared to mixing or displacement ventilation alone.