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Investigation of Electrostatic Forces Caused by Walking on Floor and Its Effect on Particle Resuspension in an Indoor Environment
Start Date 06/01/2009
End Date 05/31/2010
Primary Partner: Clarkson University
Primary Contact: Ferro, Andrea - Associate Professor
Project Type: CARTI IV
Technical Description:
Develop a test methodology for measuring the electrostatic charge generation by the shoe-floor contact and upon separation of the shoe bottom and flooring surfaces.
Expected Outcomes:
We expect that we will produce a validated model to predict particle resuspension from human walking including all relevant forces. We also expect to provide further understanding the role of electrostatic forces in particle resuspension.
Accomplishments:
A draft model has been developed using capacitor theory to determine electrical field strength and particle charge. A manuscript is under preparation. The work was presented this week at the annual meeting of the American Association for Aerosol Research (below).
Two refereed publications are planned, one to describe the new model and one to communicate the experimental results. We have a completed draft manuscript for the new model. The manuscript preparation for the experimental work will commence when that work is underway. The modeling work was presented at the AAAR annual conference (below) and will also be presented at the 7th International Conference on Multiphase Flow (ICMF) in Tampa, FL May 30-June 4, 2010.
We have hired one graduate student research assistant, Iman Goldasteh, to conduct some experimental wind tunnel and modeling work. We have also retained Xinyu Zhang as a post-doctoral researcher to move the modeling work forward while Iman is coming up to speed. Yilin Tian, a graduate student researcher, is focusing on the electrostatic charge measurements.
Benefits:
This research will help to expand the understanding of the transfer of common contaminants to indoor areas and how they disperse from the floor to the air.
For more information: http://people.clarkson.edu/~aferro/research/rph.html
Publications:
Zhang, Xinyu, Goodarz Ahmadi, Jing Qian, and Andrea Ferro. 2009. A new model on evaluation of the electrostatic effect on particle detachment due to human walking. AAAR 28th Annual Conference, October 26-30, Minneapolis, MN.
Figure. Initial (top) and final (bottom) images of floor particles following application of laminar air flow in a wind tunnel. Some of the larger particles have been removed.
Floor Particles
Image Credit: Ferro, Andrea R., Clarkson University
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