PREDICTING CONTAMINANT PARTICLE DISTRIBUTIONS TO EVALUATE THE ENVIRONMENT OF LAVATORIES WITH FLOOR EXHAUST VENTILATION

The upgrading of contamination control and air quality in the lavatory environment with poor exhaust ventilation systems is studied. Using t his new ventilation design, the distributions of airflow and polluted odors (contaminant aerosol particles) in normal lavatories are explore d in order to improve comfort conditions. Considering the turbulent an d unstable behavior of the airflow, residence time theory is applied t o describe the characteristics of aerosol particles in terms of probab ility distribution functions. A complete numerical simulation of airfl ow and contaminant particles (odors from excreta) is undertaken and th e results of a typical men's room and a typical women's room are prese nted. (C) 1997 Elsevier Science Ltd.