Prof.  Khaled  Habib
Materials Science and Photo-Electronics Lab., RE Program, EBR Center,  Kuwait

Title: FLUID MECHANICS OF FACIAL MASKS AS PERSONAL PROTECTION EQUIPMENT (PPE) OF COVID-19 VIRUS

Abstract:

A fluid mechanics model of inhaled air gases, nitrogen (N2,) and oxygen (O2) gases, and exhaled gas components (CO2 and water vapor particles) through a facial mask (membrane) to shield the COVID-19 virus was established. The model was developed based on several gas flux contributions that normally take place through membranes. Semi-empirical solutions of the mathematical model were predicted for a facial masks such as the N95, i.e., synthetic plastic fibers made of polypropylene (PP), accounting on several parameters, such as a range of porosity size (a) (i.e., 1–30 nm), void fraction (ε) (i.e., 10 −3 %–0.3%), and thickness of the membrane(l) (i.e., 10–40 μm) in comparison to the size of the COVID-19 virus. A dimensionless number (Nr) was introduced for the first time to describe semi-empirical solutions of O2, N2, and CO2 gases through the porous membrane. An optimum Nr of expressing the flow of the inhaled air gases, O2 and N2,, through the porous membrane was determined for the N95 of certain specifications of a, l, and ε as a personal protection equipment (PPE). The concept of the optimum number Nr can be standardized not only for testing commercially available facial masks as PPEs but also for designing new masks for protecting humans from the COVID-19 virus and its variant forms.

Biography:

Dr. Khaled Habib holds a Ph.D in Chemical and Materials Engineering from the Optical Science and Technological Center of University of Iowa, Iowa City, Iowa, USA, 1988. Mr. Habib was a Post Doctoral Fellow at the Chemical Engineering Dept., and Materials science Dept., of the Technical University of Aachen, Aachen, Germany, 1991-1992. Mr. Habib is a senior research scientist/a full research professor with KISR (Kuwait). He specializes in “Laser optical interferometry as non-destructive testing (NDT) methods of materials evaluation in corrosive media, corrosion, and nano-structures of metallic glasses”. Mr. Habib has in his credit more than 132 articles in international refereed journals in his area of specialization. He is a fellow of the international Society of Photo- electronics and Optics (SPIE) and a senior member of Optics Society of America (OSA). Also, he is an elected international member of the international Corrosion Council (ICC).