University Researchers Win Award for Best Conference Paper

The competition was tough—220 papers competed at the conference. But the university’s researchers won the prestigious award for the best scientific paper.

"Very exciting," says Alan Kabanshi, Associate Professor and researcher in energy systems.

n April, the RoomVent conference, the largest of its kind, was held. Over 300 researchers attended the event in Stockholm, along with designers, engineers, and other professionals in the ventilation industry.

The research group from the university, most of whom attended the conference, includes Alan Kabanshi, Dario Senkic, Harald Andersson, Mikael Sundberg, Mats Sandberg, and Elisabet Linden. Their research explores how ventilation systems can reduce the risk of spreading infections and diseases.

Harald's Globe

Their award-winning scientific paper introduced a new method developed by the team, allowing for effective simulations of air transfer between two people in a room. Ventilation, along with the indoor environment, affects air transfer between individuals, thereby influencing the risk of infection transmission.

Using a 3D-printed model called "Harald's Globe," they can conduct faster measurements of airflows and pollutant removal in different parts of a room.

"It is often assumed that air is completely mixed in a room, but in reality, the air moves more slowly in certain regions, and pollutants accumulate, leading to a higher risk of infection transmission. Besides how ventilation works, the design of the room is also crucial for air mixing. Therefore, measurements are important to see how ventilation works in practice," says Elisabet Linden.

Seeking Collaborations with Companies in the Construction Sector

The potential to reduce virus transmission through better ventilation is significant.

"We spend 60 percent of our time in our homes. During the COVID-19 period, we saw that infections increased in apartments despite everyone staying home. In theory, air shouldn't mix, and viruses shouldn't spread between apartments, but some systems cause air to spread and mix between apartments in multi-family buildings anyway," says Harald Andersson.

In most homes, air outlets are located in the kitchen to prevent cooking odors from spreading.

"This means someone who is sick in a bedroom can infect someone sitting in the kitchen because the air must travel that way, often moving through the entire house. We need to conduct more measurements on this, but perhaps the best solution would be to have air outlets in significantly more places in our homes," says Alan Kabanshi.

The research group is now seeking collaborations with companies in the construction sector to make even more progress.