减少医院手术室空气传播细菌感染的一个可能因素是减少空气从非无菌区进入无菌区。之前对医院手术室传统暖通空调设计的计算流体力学（CFD）研究表明，无论换气率（ACH）如何，当空气中的颗粒物起源于非无菌区时，它们会被带回到无菌区。本研究评估了传统暖通空调配置的修改是否有助于改变这些污染物的流动路径，并缓解颗粒夹带问题。本CFD研究中分析的传统暖通空调设计中的两个概念性修改表明，此类策略性修改可以改变气流模式和由此产生的空气微粒流动路径，从而进一步有助于减少夹带到无菌区的情况。 当排气格栅放置在天花板上，无菌区周围有一个小屏障时，颗粒从非无菌区进入无菌区的夹带量显著减少，并降低了非无菌区的温度。在另一个设计修改中，在无菌区层流扩散器阵列周围的非无菌区中放置额外的层流供应扩散器，非无菌区中的排气喷嘴向无菌区漂移。因此，在这种情况下，从非无菌区到无菌区的颗粒运动没有显示出比传统设计有任何显著改进。为了有效地将粒子从非- 无菌区，这种设计可能需要仔细调整流量分流，并平衡无菌区和非无菌区之间的排气速度。此外，还评估了这些设计修改对供气喷嘴中心线速度加速度的影响。引用:2017年年度会议，加利福尼亚州长滩，会议论文

A probable factor in minimizing the infection due to airborne bacteria in the hospital operating room is to minimize the entrainment of air from the non-sterile zone into the sterile zone. Previous Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) study of a legacy HVAC design of a hospital operating room indicated, irrespective of the air change rates (ACH), when the airborne particulates originate in the non-sterile zone they get entrained back into the sterile zone. This study evaluates whether modifications in the legacy HVAC configuration can help alter the flow path of these contaminants and mitigate the issue of particulate entrainment. Two conceptual modifications in the legacy HVAC design analyzed in this CFD study indicate such strategic modifications can alter airflow patterns and resulting flow path of airborne particulates which can further help in reducing the entrainment into the sterile zone. When the exhaust grills are placed in the ceiling with a small barrier around the sterile zone, the entrainment of particulates from the non-sterile zone into the sterile zone reduced significantly and lowered the temperature in the non-sterile zone. In the other design modification where additional laminar supply diffusers placed in the non-sterile zone surrounding the array of laminar diffusers in the sterile zone, the discharge air jets in the non-sterile zone drifted towards the sterile zone. Thus, in this case the particle movement from the non-sterile zone to the sterile zone did not show any significant improvement over the legacy design. In order to sweep the particles effectively from the non-sterile zone, such design may require careful adjustment of the flow split and balancing of discharge air velocities between the sterile and non-sterile zones. Additionally, impact of these design modifications on the acceleration of centerline velocity of the supply air jet is evaluated.