A pioneering brand in the shipbuilding industry simulates the ventilation of all types of premises and facilities to ensure the safety of customers and workers from COVID19
Slidian, the engineering company specialising in industrial fluid mechanics, carries out ventilation studies and facilitates the simulation and visualisation of fluid behaviour in closed installations
Many companies have diversified their activities over the last year due to the pandemic generated by COVID 19. This is the case of Vicus DT from Vigo, a propulsion engineering company specialising in fluid dynamics applied to the hydrodynamics of ships, which is broadening its horizons to other sectors. They have just launched the Slidian brand, a pioneering project in Spain, capable of simulating the behaviour of all types of fluids in the air to guarantee the safety of clients and workers in the face of COVID 19, in a faster and much cheaper way than the alternatives currently offered on the market.
"We realised that we could use the same procedures and programmes that we use when we study the hydrodynamics of a ship and transfer it, for example, to a restaurant," explains Adrian Sarasquete, head of Slidian. The growing concern for creating "COVID Free" environments led the team to specialise in solutions capable of integrating safety with energy efficiency, also providing great savings in ventilation, heating, air conditioning and refrigeration.
"Our work has applications in architecture, civil engineering and energy through computer simulation and visualisation of fluid behaviour. These are the same tools we use for fluid analysis in the design of ships, aircraft or Formula 1 cars. The aim of Slidian is to solve the challenge of proper ventilation of all types of premises while ensuring the safety of customers from COVID19 with efficient use of energy," says Sarasquete.
The virtual model (in 3D) offered by this technology makes it possible to simulate different ventilation scenarios depending on temperature, capacity, and space (surface area), giving rise to different solutions for the client. These are risk analyses that make it possible to calculate, for example, how long it would take for a virus to spread through the air in an enclosed space, taking into account the ventilation systems available in the premises, and to locate the most critical points of concentration in order to eradicate them. To take this to a clearer example, in a gymnasium facility, one could calculate the air quality; control the number of expected occupants and pollutant load caused by those occupants; estimate the maximum concentration of chemicals/pollutants; study the outdoor air quality; control the minimum distance to air intakes; or calculate the required ventilation rate. Solutions can focus on analyses prior to the construction of an air ventilation installation, allowing all options to be considered and thus avoiding future problems and costs; or analyses to adapt ventilation systems to the new risks generated by COVID19.