Air Purifier Placement in a Classroom and COVID-19

Background:

Since the announcement of the COVID-19 pandemic in march of 2020, masks have become a regulatory commodity of daily life with the subject itself being a polarizing topic. Despite masks significantly decrease the transmittance rates of the virus between an infected and healthy individual, there still exists a possibility, even if it is minuscule, to contract the virus despite adamant mask wearing.

The use of air purifiers significantly decrease the chance to contract the disease by cleaning and recycling the air within a room, but these air purifiers can often be expensive. Existing as an alternative to the more expensive air cleaners, the Corsi/Rosenthal Air Cleaner is a cheaper alternative to cleaner air and lower COVIDD-19 transmittance rates.

The fan itself is constructed from commercially available materials: 4 MERV 13 air filters acting as the sides to the air purifier, a box fan as the device to pull air through the side filters, a piece of cardboard on the bottom to force air through the sides, and a cardboard shroud placed over the fan on the top to increase the efficiency of the fan. Because the materials of the purifier are commercially available and it requires self assembly, the fan is cheaper than buying a pre constructed high quality air purifier.

Research:

Because the Corsi/Rosenthal Air Cleaner was recently developed, there exits very few data on the fan's ability to function, including where within a room is the optimal placement to achieve maximum efficiency of the filter, leading to the current research topic.