Equipment
Computing
The CFD-Lab has a dedicated compute cluster consisting of a Linux based, 36-core COW (Cluster of Workstations) of Barcelona and Opteron CPUs with 72 GB memory. The lab also has several high-end workstations that are used simultaneously as desktop and simulation machines. All machines run on openSUSE Linux OS and have both commercial and open-source simulation software. More information about the software can be found in the Software page.
The CFD-Lab also has direct access to a wide HPC infrastructure from Compute Canada (WestGrid), including the newest arrival at the University of Alberta: "Hungabee", an SMMP Ultraviolet 1000 from SGI with 2048 cores and 16 TB of RAM.
Particle Sizing
A Spraytec laser diffraction particle sizer from Malvern is being intensely used for the study of human cough. The Spraytec is capable of measuring a size range of 0.1 – 2000 µm using two lenses, which is a uniquely wide range for this type of particle sizer. Most of our cough measurements are performed using the 300 mm lens, which covers a measurement range of 0.1 - 900 µm. The Spraytec is capable of very rapid data acquisition rates (2.5 kHz), which allows for detailed time-dependent study of short aerosol bursts, as in cough.