Currently, droplet protective screens (DPSs) are used to prevent the spread of respiratory diseases. As virus particles can maintain their infective in indoor environments, recent studies have investigated the risk of airborne transmission. However, the ability of DPSs to block airborne transmission has not been verified yet. In this study, the preventive ability of DPSs against droplet and airborne transmission was evaluated. Moreover, the effectiveness of a Portable air purifier (PAP) was investigated. According to results, in a simulated room where an infectious person spoke, the DPS blocked more than 90% of the micron-sized droplets (with a diameter larger than 1 ㎛) transmitted to the front of the infectious person. However, sub-micron droplets (with a diameter smaller than 1 ㎛) passed through the DPS and spread in a room. However, the PAP reduced the amount of both micron and sub-micron droplets transmitted to the front of the infectious person. When the PAP airflow direction was set from the DPS surface to the free space near the infectious person, improved prevention against droplet and airborne transmission was recorded. However, airborne transmission was accelerated when the PAP airflow direction was set from the free space to the DPS surface.

The geometry of popular wave plate type mist eliminator for the wet flue gas desulfurization process was improved, fabricated, and experimentally evaluated. A Mist eliminator is a type of inertial particle collector which collection efficiency is proportional to the velocity of the gas phase. However, as the amount of re-entrainment is also proportional to the gas phase velocity, there is a limitation for the gas phase flow rate. Re-entrainment is one of the most important issues in a mist eliminator and is likely to occur as the input of the liquid phase and flow rate of the gas phase increase. In order to resolve this problem, the projection angle of the improved mist eliminator is set to 30° from the conventional one while maintaining the cross-section. With low flow rate conditions, the modified mist eliminator showed a similar pressure drop and overall collection efficiency. However, with conditions in which re-entrainment is obviously occurring, the modified mist eliminator showed better performance in draining droplets than the conventional one. As a result, the modified mist eliminator showed higher overall collection efficiency.

Recently, low-cost particulate matter (PM) sensors have been widely used in monitoring mass concentration. Maintaining the accuracy of the sensors is important and requires rigorous performance evaluation and calibration. In this study, two commercial low-cost PM sensors(LCS), Plantower PMS3003 and Plantower PMS7003, were evaluated in the laboratory and field with a reference-grade PM monitor (GRIMM 11-D). Laboratory evaluation was conducted with single/mixed particles of PSL (Poly Styrene Latex) in an acrylic chamber at 20℃ and relative humidity of 20%. Field evaluation was conducted inside a building of Yonsei University (Shinchon) from February 12 to March 31, 2022. In both evaluations, LCS measured values became different from reference measured values when the relative humidity was high or the outdoor air PM10/PM2.5 ratio was high. Based on the field evaluation, the LCS measured values were corrected through four different regression analysis models. As a result, the multivariate polynomial regression analysis model showed highest matching with the reference PM monitor (PM2.5 >0.9, PM10 >0.85). In this model, the PM10/PM2.5 ratio and relative humidity were chosen as independent variables.

The line width of circuits in semiconductor devices continues to decrease down to a few nanometers. Since nanoparticles attached to the patterned wafer surface may cause malfunction of the devices, it is crucial to remove the contaminant nanoparticles. Physical cleaning that utilizes momentum of liquid for detaching solid nanoparticles has recently been tested in place of the conventional chemical method. Dropwise impaction has been employed to increase the removal efficiency with expectation of more efficient momentum exchange. To date, most of relevant studies have been focused on drop spreading behavior on a horizontal surface in terms of maximum spreading diameters and average spreading velocity of drop. More important is the local liquid velocity at the position of nanoparticle, very near the surface, rather than the vertical average value. In addition, there are very scarce existing studies dealing with microdroplet impaction that may be desirable for minimizing pattern demage of the wafer. In this study, we investigated the local velocity distribution in spreading liquid film under various impaction conditions through the CFD simulation. Combining the numerical results with the particle removal model, we estimated an effective cleaning diameter (ECD), which is a measure of the particle removal capacity of a single drop, and presented the predicted ECD data as a function of droplet's velocity and diameter particularly when the droplets are microns in diameter.

As many studies on the harmfulness of fine dust have been reported, awareness of its seriousness is spreading. Recently, interest in indoor air quality as well as air pollution is increasing, and research on measures to block fine dust flowing into the room from the outside is being conducted. The clothing company is launching functional clothing to prevent fine dust attached to clothing from entering the room through outdoor activities. However, it is difficult to confirm whether there is actually fine-dust blocking performance, and there is no evaluation standard. In this study, the contamination rate caused by fine dust was quantitatively compared through image processing after contamination of the outer fabric for 4 types of commercially available functional clothing with fine-dust blocking effect. The difference in particle contamination according to the material of the outer fabric was analyzed by comparing the surface resistance, and it was found that the higher the surface resistance of the outer fabric material, the more fine dust was attached. The analysis method of this study is expected to be able to quantitatively compare and evaluate the fine-dust blocking performance of functional clothing.