Republic of the Philippines

PHILIPPINE STATE COLLEGE OF AERONAUTICS

Institute of Engineering and Technology

The Safeness of Air Quality in Airconditioning and Ventilation Systems

during the COVID-19 Pandemic: A case study

Angelo G. Divino

Mary Angelika Grace A. Quiroz

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 Republic of the Philippines
PHILIPPINE STATE COLLEGE OF AERONAUTICS
Institute of Engineering and Technology

Angelo G. Divino

Mary Angelika Grace A. Quiroz

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 Republic of the Philippines
PHILIPPINE STATE COLLEGE OF AERONAUTICS
Institute of Engineering and Technology
Executive Summary

The article gives a summary of existing research on SARS-CoV-2

transmission in the aviation sector and preventative methods. It's worth
mentioning that the majority of the studies are tiny cross-sectional or ecological
studies with selection bias, misclassification, and confounding. More research
on occupational exposure and sickness is needed to provide a solid evidence
foundation that can guide policy decisions.

The aim of the study is to provide information about air quality inside the
aircraft regarding COVID-19 infections and how to prevent the transmission of
SARSCoV-2 and manage COVID-19 outbreaks at within the aircraft.

When an infected individual coughs, sneezes, sings, breathes deeply, or

speaks, the SARS-CoV-2 virus can spread through their mouth or nose. Close
contact with an infected individual can cause the virus to be inhaled or
inoculated through the mouth, nose, or eyes. Air conditioning, ventilation, and
other climate control technologies are designed to provide individuals with
thermally pleasant settings while also increasing the quality of circulating
interior air.

The aviation industry authorities will have important decision-making

elements to consider when establishing their own responses to the aviation
system's needs, minimizing the system's impacts and speeding up the sector's
recovery once the outbreak is over, with a comprehensive set of recovery
measures.

Findings

The global SARS-CoV-2 epidemic is wreaking havoc on people and

businesses all over the world. The difficulty is to come up with effective and
efficient ways to protect both the illness and the open sectors of society. The
aviation industry is addressing this issue and its expressions by combining new
information with current technology using a science-based approach.

Although direct droplet transmission (around 2 meters) is the most

common mode of transmission, airborne transmission (beyond 2 meters)
cannot be ruled out. Furthermore, contamination of surfaces may contribute to
the spread of infection, particularly in climate-controlled interior workplaces
where ventilation systems may not be operating correctly, creating
circumstances that allow the virus to stay longer on surfaces.

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 Republic of the Philippines
PHILIPPINE STATE COLLEGE OF AERONAUTICS
Institute of Engineering and Technology
The most important component in improving public health safety
onboard airplanes is preventing behaviors that enhance the risk of SARS-CoV-
2 transmission from one person to the next. Until quick, reliable, and
economical testing becomes available, health attestations and screening for
crew and passengers who display signs of COVID-19 lessen the risk that an
infectious individual would board a plane.

Air enters the cabin through above inlets and flows downhill to outlets on
the floor. It enters and exits between adjacent seat rows. Because there is less
airflow forward and backward between rows, respiratory particles are less likely
to travel between them.

Current jet aircraft have substantially quicker airflow than regular interior
structures. Half of it is outside air, and the other half is recycled using HEPA
(High-Efficiency Particulate Air) filters similar to those used in operating rooms.
Contact with other passengers who may be infected is the only remaining
danger to be handled. Seat backs operate as a partial physical barrier, allowing
most individuals to remain reasonably motionless and avoid direct eye contact.

Discussion

Travel periods are substantially shorter than the incubation period of

infectious illnesses, thanks to growing worldwide connection and continuous
globalization. Increased connection and shorter travel times benefit travelers,
but they are terrible news from an epidemiological standpoint. In general, as
seen with Ebola, SARS/MERS, seasonal influenza, and Malaria/Dengue fever,
air travel has the potential to be a key driver in the spread of airborne illnesses
for at least a decade. This discovery has led to the development of a number
of research methodologies that aid in determining the involvement of airports
and airlines in the spread of vector-borne illnesses in general. Nonetheless, it
appears that many hopes for COVID-19's capacity to anticipate disease
transmission were unrealistic, or that past scientific findings on other illnesses
were not utilized to their full potential.

Because airlines are for-profit businesses, they make individual

judgments about seating and boarding strategies, and these decisions are
never solely based on safety considerations. Instead, profit-driven airlines must
strike a balance between economic efficiency and the health dangers that arise.
For example, when American Airlines stated that it will fill all seats as much as
possible, epidemiologists and politicians were not pleased. As a result,
boarding techniques used during COVID-19 differ by airline and time.

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 Republic of the Philippines
PHILIPPINE STATE COLLEGE OF AERONAUTICS
Institute of Engineering and Technology
The establishment of herd immunity through infection and/or vaccine
delivery, as well as the use of appropriate treatments and therapies to treat sick
and ailing people, will be crucial in combating the COVID-19 pandemic. Non-
pharmaceutical interventions (NPI) are acts that may be taken to delay and/or
prevent the spread of illnesses in a community. NPI can provide some
protection to persons who are at risk of becoming unwell as a result of infection
with – in this example, the SARS-CoV-2 virus. NPI measures are divided into
three categories: (1) personal, which includes routine personal hygiene
measures like hand washing with soap and wearing face masks; (2) community,
which includes policies and programs that raise awareness of the issue and
how it spreads; and (3) environmental, which includes practices and procedures
that aim to limit viral exposure. The layered NPI strategy is extremely important
to attempts to reduce the danger of SARS-CoV-2 transmission throughout
general aircraft operating, as well as during air travel, including preboarding, on
board, and deplaning.

The air-conditioning and ventilation systems supply the atmosphere

within an aircraft's cabin. In compared to other interior areas with typical
mechanical ventilation, aircraft ventilation provides significantly higher
protection for diluting and eliminating airborne contagions, and is far better than
home circumstances. When combined with regular adherence to mask-wearing
rules, the degree of ventilation offered onboard airplanes would significantly
lower the risk of infectious particle transfer from person to person.

Inside the airplane cabin, the present ventilation system is set up such
that passengers get conditioned air from the top (above their heads), and
subsequently the air is taken from the bottom (at the feet of the passengers). If
a person with an infectious disease is onboard, this strategy permits infectious
diseases to be spread. Cold air (from the aircraft air conditioning system) is sent
from the top, cooling the passengers before being gathered at their feet. After
cooling the passengers, the air becomes warm, and according to the ideal gas
law (which air obeys to some extents), warm air is lighter than cold air and
should naturally rise to the top. As a result, some infected air escapes the
suction mechanism at the passengers' feet, goes to the top, and then spreads
to other regions of the cabin.

Fresh air delivered from the lower level of the cabin, from the side, or in
front of the passengers cools them down and is gathered at the top of the cabin
by natural convection. Any infectious agent emitted by the diseased
passenger/s will be quickly identified and collected on the cabin's top roof.

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 Republic of the Philippines
PHILIPPINE STATE COLLEGE OF AERONAUTICS
Institute of Engineering and Technology
Germicidal ultraviolet (UVC) light will be stationed at the site of collecting of
spent air on the cabin's higher roof to kill any microbes present.

The implementation of a noiseless and invisible air barrier surrounding

the passengers' seats is another key strategy for localizing infectious air and
reducing the danger of transmission in an aircraft's cabin. Droplets and aerosols
(generated when passengers seated next to each other cough, sneeze, snore,
yell, or chat) will be retained mostly inside a single passenger's area, reducing
the danger of inhalation by surrounding passengers. The air curtain is based
on the same air-blade principles as high-pressure hand dryers or energy-saving
air curtains used at building entrances. The newly suggested air-curtain, on the
other hand, is both noiseless (with an inbuilt muffler) and less pressured. The
air curtains span from the armrest and the headrest level to the cabin's crest
(ceiling), where the air is extracted as part of an active displacement ventilation
system, which supplies air from the lower level and extracts it at the upper level.

Conclusion

In order to convey our opinion on COVID-19's indoor airborne nature, we

researched the current literature on infectious illness dissemination patterns.
SARS-CoV-2 is airborne in interior spaces, as evidenced by the historical
viewpoint of communicable disease outbreaks and the present growing
understanding of microorganisms' nature. The virus may be prevented from
being spread by droplets by the social distancing strategy within a limited
space, but aerosol transmission through the ventilation systems is still feasible.
It should be emphasized that governments and the general public have paid
little regard to this position; nevertheless, our opinion is based on facts
published in the literature, which further reveals that the spread of the disease
may be facilitated by the state of the ventilation systems.

Recommendations

In confined areas, such as onboard airplanes, we advocate using an

unique air circulation idea that isolates a communicable illness to the diseased
individual/s alone, in addition to using UV germicidal irradiation in combination
with a nanoporous air filter.

Appropriate ventilation systems for assuring air quality must be used to

control the spread of airborne pollutants while preserving passengers' thermal
comfort. Various solutions for managing and increasing air quality and thermal
comfort within airplane cabins have been researched. In comparison to
traditional ventilation systems, a tailored displacement ventilation system is

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 Republic of the Philippines
PHILIPPINE STATE COLLEGE OF AERONAUTICS
Institute of Engineering and Technology
usually recognized to deliver superior air quality while also ensuring occupant
thermal comfort. To retain passenger faith and confidence, certain preventive
requirements must be maintained to ensure that persons are safe from viral
illnesses. When paired with HEPA filters in a displacement ventilation system,
upper-room and in-duct UVC systems are equally recommended for limiting the
danger of transmitting infectious and virus-laden air inside restricted areas.

Implementation

The aviation industry, all airlines and the administrative organizations,

should work hand-in-hand in order to always observe the proper protocols to
ensure the safety of the crew, passengers, and everyone during air
transportation. NPIs are the most manageable solution regarding immediate
and cost-effective responses. However, in the long-run, it would be better to
eventually adapt the ventilation systems of aircrafts from typical mixed-air
ventilation system to personalized displacement ventilation system.

As COVID is suspected to be permanently included in our lives, it is not

impossible for other viruses to form. Aircraft organizations inside and outside
the Philippines should adjust their protocols in order to ensure air quality inside
the aircraft so that passengers of all ages and health statuses can continue
travelling by air.

Given the gravity of these adjustments, it is reasonable for the aviation

industry to take significant amount of time before being able to adapt. However,
it is in everyone’s best interest if it would be done sooner rather than later.

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 Republic of the Philippines
PHILIPPINE STATE COLLEGE OF AERONAUTICS
Institute of Engineering and Technology
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Institute of Engineering and Technology
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