Prediction of Spatial and Temporal Distribution of Expiratory Droplets in an Aircraft Cabin

The present study investigated the unsteady transport of droplets exhaled by an index passenger in an aircraft cabin using the CFD simulations. A section of twin aisle cabin with seven-rows and full occupancy was studied. It was found that the expiratory droplet cloud was initially dense and moved to specific zones. The droplet concentrations were higher in these zones. The droplet concentration then reduced due to dispersion and droplet removal from the outlets. The droplets were mostly contained in the front, back and row of the index passenger. It was observed that the perfectly mixed conditions can be used to extend the information on the droplet concentration beyond 3 minutes. It was found that the droplet concentration information obtained from a single exhalation CFD simulation can be superimposed to obtain the information for multiple exhalations. A routine was developed to find the droplets inhaled by every passenger for 2-hours of air travel.