Transport of gaseous pollutants around a human body in quiescent indoor environment

“Well-mixed” assumption often leads to inadequate prediction of the human exposure. In spaces that operate with a low air velocity, local airflows generated by occupants play predominant role for pollutant transport. The present study investigates the ability of a human convective boundary layer (CBL) to transport the pollution in quiescent indoor environment. A human body is resembled by a thermal manikin with a body shape and surface temperature distribution of a real person. The objective of the study is to examine the impact of the pollutant location around the human body on the pollution concentration levels in the breathing zone. The results show that the location of the pollution source has a considerable influence of the breathing zone concentrations. This is contributed to the human CBL, as it pulls the pollution emitted close to the human body and transports it to the breathing zone. For different pollutant location studied, the highest breathing zone concentrations are achieved when the pollution is located at the chest, while there is zero exposure for the pollutants emitted from the upper back or behind the chair. The results suggest that understanding of the air patterns around the human body should be recognized in ventilation design practice.