A model for indoor motion dynamics of SARS-CoV-2 as a function of respiratory droplet size and evaporation

Abstract

A simplified model has been devised to estimate the falling dynamics of severe acute respiratory syndrome corona-virus 2 (SARS-CoV-2)-laden droplets in an indoor environment. Our estimations were compared to existing literature data. The spread of SARS-CoV-2 is closely coupled to its falling dynamics as a function of respiratory droplet diameter (1 to 2000 mu m) of an infected person and droplet evaporation. The falling time of SARS-CoV-2 with a respiratory droplet diameter of about 300 mu m from a height of 1.7 m remained almost the same among the Newtonian lift equation, Stokes's law, and our simplified model derived from them so as to account for its evaporation. The evaporative demand peaked at midday which was ten times that at midnight. The evaporating droplets <= 6 mu m lost their water content rapidly, making their lifetimes in the air shorter than their falling times. The droplets <= 6 mu m were able to evaporate completely and remained in the air for about 5 min as droplet nuclei with SARS-CoV-2.