Impact of Airflow Characteristics on Particle Resuspension from Indoor Surfaces

Figures & data

FIG. 1 Schematic of wind tunnel used for test. Solid arrows denote the direction of air flow.

FIG. 2 Timeline of experimental events.

FIG. 3 Velocity and turbulence profiles for the three substrates (rows) and turbulence cases (columns). The average turbulence intensities shown are the averages of the near-surface turbulence intensities at 15, 20, and 25 m/s bulk velocity. The size of each symbol corresponds to its turbulence intensity.

FIG. 4 Relative resuspension, Γ, for linoleum samples under low, medium, and high turbulence conditions.

FIG. 5 Relative resuspension, Γ, for carpet samples under low, medium, and high turbulence conditions.

FIG. 6 Relative resuspension, Γ, for galvanized sheet metal samples under low, medium, and high turbulence conditions.

TABLE 1 Threshold velocities

		Threshold velocity, v 50, (m/s)
	Particle size	Low turbulence	Medium turbulence	High turbulence
Substrate	bin	intensity	intensity	intensity
Linoleum	1 to 3 μm	N/A	21 ± 3	17 ± 6
	3 to 5 μm	24 ± 4	19 ± 3	14 ± 3
	5 to 7 μm	23 ± 4	18 ± 4	13 ± 3
	7 to 9 μm	22 ± 5	15 ± 3	12 ± 3
	9 to 13 μm	21 ± 6	14 ± 4	11 ± 3
	13 to 20 μm	19 ± 5	14 ± 4	11 ± 2
Carpet	1 to 3 μm	23 ± 5	15 ± 2	13 ± 6
	3 to 5 μm	22 ± 5	13 ± 3	13 ± 6
	5 to 7 μm	22 ± 5	13 ± 3	12 ± 6
	7 to 9 μm	22 ± 5	13 ± 3	11 ± 7
	9 to 13 μm	21 ± 5	13 ± 3	11 ± 7
	13 to 20 μm	21 ± 5	12 ± 3	10 ± 7
Galvanized sheet metal ^1	1 to 3 μm	18 ± 4	18 ± 5	21 ± 8
	3 to 5 μm	15 ± 4	14 ± 3	15 ± 5
	5 to 7 μm	14 ± 4	12 ± 3	12 ± 4
	7 to 9 μm	13 ± 4	12 ± 4	12 ± 4
	9 to 13 μm	13 ± 4	11 ± 3	9 ± 3
	13 to 20 μm	13 ± 5	10 ± 3	10 ± 5