Numerical Study of Bacteria Containing Droplets Aerosolized From Hot Surfaces

The process of water droplet interaction with hot surface can result in droplet shooting off the surface. When the water is contaminated with bacteria the interaction causes substantial ambient air contamination due to aerosolization of live or injured microorganisms. This study investigates the behaviour of water droplets interacting with heated surfaces in the film boiling regime. A suggested mathematical model considers droplet shooting off conditions and following airborne droplet evolution due to cooling. The critical size of the droplet capable of taking off was modelled as a function of the wall temperature and droplet size. Following the departure from the hot surface, droplet cooling time mainly depends on the initial droplet radius while the influence of the ambient temperature is marginal. The experimental part of the study was focused on (1) investigation of the size of droplets capable of departing from the hot surface, and (2) evaluation of the influence of cooling time on the survivability of two common environmental bacterial species, Gram-negative Escherichia coli and Gram-positive Bacillus subtilis. Droplets with the sizes of up to one millimetre shooting off the hot surfaces were detected, which correlates with the theoretical results. It was found that, under realistic physical conditions, the process of liquid interaction with hot surface does not ensure an efficient microbial inactivation. It was also shown that the shortest cooling time was associated with higher survival rates of both bacterial strains used in this study. However, even for the longest cooling time of 15 seconds the amount of live bacteria in the aerosolized droplet carrier can be substantially high with recovery rates of approximately 50% for B. subtilis.