Design of Air Distribution System for Operation Theatre Using Flow Visualization Techniques to Improve Flow Characteristics

Abstract

Operation Theatre (OT) is the most important area where precise controlled on indoor air quality is required because it is directly related to patient health and its recovery period. This work aims to study and visualize the airflow distribution of conventional flat air diffuser ventilation system and newly designed angular air ventilation system in OT. Angular Air Distribution (AAD) system is designed in such way that, conditioned air is throw in OT with some angle so it can cover the maximum area of OT with laminar flow and minimum installation area. The performance of angular air distribution (AAD) system with varying inlet diffuser angle, constant 0.4m/s inlet velocity and air flow pattern are investigated with the help of numerical simulation and experimental setup of prototype OT model. Detail experimental investigation is done on a prototype with the help of a smoke test and camera target method (CTM). Both numerical and experimental results showed a similar pattern of air distribution for the various design configurations.