Design Optimization of Ventilation and Air-Conditioning Systems—A Case Study of a Hospital Ship

The COVID-19 pandemic reached everywhere with no exception of remote areas. On the other hand, health facilities are inadequate hence difficult to access by the people. To address the issue while anticipating other extraordinary incidents, hospital ships can be of an alternative in handling the service. This paper presents a modification of conventional hospital ship design to provide a special accommodation to deal with infectious diseases at early stage. Considering that such diseases usually are of airborne transmission, the room is equipped with a ventilation system and air regulator where air velocity, pressure, humidity, and temperature were assessed accordingly. Evaluation on the effectiveness and efficiency of the air circulation in the room revealed that the location of both supply diffusers and exhaust grills define the characteristic and performance of the room airflow. One central supply diffuser installed in the mid of the room creates a more even airflow distribution as compared to various combinations of main and supporting ducting of almost similar capacity. The arrangement results in the best system performance indicated by the highest air velocity by 0.10425 m/s. The arrangement is applicable to other isolation room capacities by adjusting the equipment capacities and layouts.