A new study of airflow patterns inside a car offers some suggestions for potentially reducing the risk of COVID-19 transmission while sharing rides with others.
The researchers used computer models to simulate the airflow inside a compact car with various combinations of windows open or closed.
The simulations showed that opening windows—the more windows the better—created airflow patterns that dramatically reduced the concentration of airborne particles exchanged between a driver and a single passenger.
Blasting the car’s ventilation system didn’t circulate air nearly as well as a few open windows, the researchers found.
“Driving around with the windows up and the air conditioning or heat on is definitely the worst scenario, according to our computer simulations,” says co-lead author Asimanshu Das, a graduate student in Brown University’s School of Engineering.
“The best scenario we found was having all four windows open, but even having one or two open was far better than having them all closed,” Das says.
The researchers stress that there’s no way to eliminate risk completely—and, of course, current guidance from the US Centers for Disease Control (CDC) notes that postponing travel and staying home is the best way to protect personal and community health. The goal of the study was simply to study how changes in airflow inside a car may worsen or reduce risk of pathogen transmission.
The computer models used in the study simulated a car, loosely based on a Toyota Prius, with two people inside—a driver and a passenger sitting in the back seat on the opposite side from the driver. The researchers chose that seating arrangement because it maximizes the physical dis ..
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