Technology
Clouds of Viruses: Why You Should Wear a Mask in Public Restrooms
Researchers use computational fluid dynamics to model the particle movement that occurs with the act of flushing.
Researchers recently simulated the movement of a virus-laden particle from urinal flushing. They discovered that the particles spread externally. Alarmingly, the particle can reach 0.84 meters (a man’s thigh) in only 5.5 seconds, while a toilet flush hit 0.93 meters in 35 seconds.
Do I have your attention? These alarming observations are from scientists in China. They used computational fluid dynamics to model the movement of particles associated with toilet or urinal flushing.
Computational fluid dynamics (CFD) has been around since the early 20th century. CFD can solve complex fluid flow and heat transfer problems. This fluid mechanics branch uses applied mathematics, physics, and computational software to visualize how to analyze situations involving fluid flow. CFD can simulate the free-stream flow of a fluid and the interaction of liquids and gases with surfaces.
The Covid-19 pandemic continues. There have been over 27 million cases worldwide, with nearly 900,000 deaths from the disease. In my home country of the USA, the…
