Abstract:

Poor outdoor air quality, and after the outbreak of SARS and avian influenza, Hong Kong air quality problem has received tremendously attention recently. In order to reduce the pollution or improve the air quality, it is important to develop a better mathematical model to study the dynamics of airborne particulate matter (aerosol). Conventional Lagrangian model has a few inherent limitations. The new model should be more efficient with strong physical foundation.

In this seminar a new Eulerian model, incorporated with a semi-empirical methodology to predict particle deposition flux, developed recently will be addressed and highlighted. Applications of the model include particle deposition in a single bifurcating tube and infectious droplet nuclei dispersion in a model ventilated room.

Biography:

Dr. Alvin Lai received his bachelor B. Eng. in Building Services Engineering from Hong Kong Polytechnic University and his MPhil. from Hong Kong University. He obtained his Ph.D. from Imperial College. He spent three years working as a post-doctorate fellow in University of California, Berkeley before joining Nanyang Technology University, Singapore in December 2000. His main research areas are air quality with the emphasis on airborne particles, exposure, aerosol science and technology and filtration technology.