PHASE TRANSITIONS IN AEROSOLS AND SPREADING OF RESPIRATORY EPIDEMICS

Thermophysical processes infl uencing the spread of respiratory epidemics on drying (or freezing) of an aerosol containing a virus of about 100 nm in size have been identifi ed for the fi rst time. It is shown that suffi ciently rapid drying or freezing of a micron amount of aerosol produced inside a sick person leads to an increase in the Laplace pressure, which mechanically destroys the virus. It has been established that the characteristic time of phase transitions does not exceed 3 ms of a micron amount of aerosol and that the most favorable conditions for the survival of the virus in an aerosol are the air temperature held near zero Celsius and high air humidity, ensuring a suffi ciently long existence of the aerosol and, consequently, of the virus inside it.
Thermophysical processes infl uencing the spread of respiratory epidemics on drying (or freezing) of an aerosol containing a virus of about 100 nm in size have been identifi ed for the fi rst time. It is shown that suffi ciently rapid drying or freezing of a micron amount of aerosol produced inside a sick person leads to an increase in the Laplace pressure, which mechanically destroys the virus. It has been established that the characteristic time of phase transitions does not exceed 3 ms of a micron amount of aerosol and that the most favorable conditions for the survival of the virus in an aerosol are the air temperature held near zero Celsius and high air humidity, ensuring a suffi ciently long existence of the aerosol and, consequently, of the virus inside it.
Author:  P. S. Grinchuk, S. M. Danilova-Tret′yak, and S. P. Fisenko
Keywords:  aerosol, evaporation, freezing, Laplace pressure, air humidity, air temperature, COVID-19
Page:  326