Optimal natural and HVAC ventilation to balance passenger infection risk and thermal comfort across seasons on a cruise ship

Luo, Qiqi, Ou, Cuiyun, Li, Yulin, Luo, Zhiwen ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2082-3958, Tian, Wenxin, Zeng, Liyue and Hang, Jian 2025. Optimal natural and HVAC ventilation to balance passenger infection risk and thermal comfort across seasons on a cruise ship. Building and Environment 282 , 113306. 10.1016/j.buildenv.2025.113306

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Abstract

Ventilation optimization in cruise ships is a critical issue, as the enclosed and densely occupied environments significantly increase the risk of airborne disease transmission which highlighted during the COVID-19 pandemic. This concern is further emphasized by a documented case of a 4-to-17 transmission event in a cruise ship. Field experiments demonstrated that inadequate ventilation and air-conditioning in recirculation mode led to large-scale transmission. However, few studies have explored the ventilation optimization of cruise ships, neglecting thermal comfort across seasons. Therefore, this paper adopted numerical simulations to explore natural/air-conditioning ventilation strategies, balancing infection risk (IR) and thermal comfort in various seasons. CFD numerical simulations were used to explore the effects of multiple natural ventilation methods and mechanical ventilation with different filtration efficiencies, and the simulations were validated and optimized with experimental data. Dose-response model coupled with Monte Carlo method was adopted to quantify infection risk. In spring and fall, opening all side windows maintains low IR (median<0.61%) and provides good thermal comfort (-1<+1). However, thermal comfort decreases and air-conditioning ventilation is required in summer and winter. When using air-conditioning ventilation, comfort is improved (PMV=-0.21), but the median IR reaches 5.99% under recirculating air conditioner. With filtration efficiency increasing to 30%, the median IR decreases to 0.80%. Threshold analysis indicates that a filtration efficiency of 14.06% is the threshold to effectively decrease IR. To balance infection risk and thermal comfort, windows can be opened for natural ventilation when the temperature is suitable. However, when air-conditioning is required, ensure the system incorporates filtration and sterilization functions.

Item Type:	Article
Date Type:	Publication
Status:	Published
Schools:	Schools > Architecture
Publisher:	Elsevier
ISSN:	0360-1323
Date of Acceptance:	16 June 2025
Last Modified:	12 Dec 2025 11:45
URI:	https://orca.cardiff.ac.uk/id/eprint/182996

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