Flu on a Plane

Team: 45

School: Escalante High

Area of Science: Epidemiology

Interim: Escalante High School
Team 45
Supercomputing Challenge Interim Report

To begin, we have changed the theme of our proposal. Previously, we were researching the migration of black bears before, during and after forest fires. Our new theme is the contamination of recycled air in airplanes.
The definition of the problem:
How well airplane cabins can recycle air for use, more specifically the efficiency of the filters at removing airborne contagions and sicknesses. Also, we will be looking at the virulence of certain airborne diseases in this enclosed space.
Our plan for solving the problem computationally:
We plan to input data in terms of units of people and air particles for an average size of airplane cabin. There will be “clean” air particles and “infected” air particles, both of which will move around the sealed cabin. Some air particles will be removed regularly to be filtered according to the average contagion removal rate and will then be reintroduced to the cabin. People will be put in with an approximate movement rate and randomly generated resistance to infection. As they come into contact with air particles and become infected, they can either become free of the infection, instantly or over a random period of time, or remain infected for the term of the simulation. Infected units will produce infected air at regular intervals. If a specific particle infects a person, the infected person’s output particles will be given a slightly higher level of virulence (infection success rate). Likewise, a person who resists infection will be allotted a higher resistance level. This is to mimic a real scenario in a shorter amount of time.
Description of the progress we have made up to this time:
We have done background research, and put together a powerpoint. We have also constructed a basic Star Logo model for our simulation. We have a limited amount of research and progress due to our theme change.
The results we expect to get:
We expect to see a high contamination level due the tight enclosed space.
Five citations of information we have referenced:
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052970204261704574275980659583434.html
http://www.bing.com/images/search?q=air+ventilation+systems+model+aircrafts+&view=detail&id=B7E88C77C18E1008BCCA6B240C79E01D94102705&first=0&FORM=IDFRIR
http://www.archbronconeumol.org/ficheros/images/260/260v43n02/grande/260v43n02-13098958tab04.gifhttp://jama.ama-assn.org/content/288/4/483.long
http://www.archbronconeumol.org/ficheros/images/260/260v43n02/grande/260v43n02-13098958tab04.gifhttp://acer.eng.auburn.edu/partners/conf_papers/zhang_indoor_air_2005_comparison_of_different_ventilation_systems.pdf
types of planes we can use
http://www.intertechnique.fr/en,references.html

experiments with a factor of particles expeled while preforming different movements of the mouth
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2843952

Team Members:

  aaron Edwards
  Levi Dryden
  tanner warren
  cameron garcia
  Jonathon Lamb
  Lucas Dryden

Sponsoring Teacher: Yolanda Koontz

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