Numerical investigation on diffusion length, suspending time, and forces acting on COVID-19 virus particles in an indoor environment

Abstract

The purpose of this study is to study two-dimensional CFD simulations of the COVID-19 virus two-phase flow in steady air with the Euler-Lagrange method. This was accomplished by developing CFD programs in MATLAB and simulations in COMSOL software. Brownian, drag, Saffman, and weight forces are considered for studying the dynamics of virus flow. In order to study the motion of viruses, Brownian, drag forces, and the weight of viruses play an important role. In this study, three different diameters of virus particles were considered, with three different initial conditions and three different initial velocities. The diffusion length and suspending time of viruses in the air have been computed in each of the nine states.