Air pollution dispersion within urban street canyons

A semi-empirical mathematical model, Urban Street Model (USM), is proposed to efficiently estimate the dispersion of vehicular air pollution in cities. This model describes urban building arrangements by combining building density, building heights and the permeability of building arrangements relative to wind flow. To estimate the level of air pollution in the city of Krasnoyarsk (in Eastern Siberia), the spatial distribution of pollutant concentrations off roadways is calculated using Markov's processes in USM. The USM-predicted numerical results were compared with field measurements and with results obtained from other frequently used models, CALINE-4 and OSPM. USM consistently yielded the best results. OSPM usually overestimated pollutant concentration values. CALINE-4 consistently underestimated these values. For OSPM, the maximum differences were 160% and for CALINE-4 about 400%. Permeability and building density are necessary parameters for accurately modeling urban air pollution and influencing regulatory requirements for building planning.     

孤立与非孤立城市街道峡谷内污染物扩散

通过求解二维不可压N-S方程、k-ε方程及污染物对流扩散方程,模拟了孤立街道峡谷与非孤立街道峡谷内的流场及交通污染物浓度场.计算结果与风洞试验结果总体趋势一致.非孤立街道峡谷内污染物壁面浓度要大于孤立街道峡谷内的壁面浓度.通过计算街道峡谷建筑屋顶高度处的垂直方向污染物通量,说明了湍流扩散是污染物扩散出街道峡谷的主要原因,其污染物通量总为正,而平均流通量可以为负.非孤立街道峡谷由于平均流流动和湍流流动的总扩散通量减少,造成污染物在街道峡谷内集聚,从而理论上解释了非孤立街道峡谷与孤立街道峡谷污染扩散的差别.     

Numerical investigation of pollutant transport characteristics inside deep urban street canyons

A validated LES model was employed to simulate the street canyons of aspect ratio (AR) 3, 5, and 10. Three, five, and eight vertically aligned primary recirculations were found for the three cases, respectively, which showed decreasing strength with decreasing height. The ground-level wind speeds were found to be very small, making it extremely difficult for the ground-level pollutants to disperse. Local maxima of turbulence intensities were found at the interfaces between the primary recirculations and the shear layer. The pollutant trajectory followed the primary recirculations. High pollutant concentration and variance were found near the buildings where wind flowed upward. Large gradients of pollutant concentration and variance were also observed at the interfaces between the primary recirculations and the shear layer. Detailed analyses of concentration budget showed that the advection terms were responsible for pollutant redistribution within primary recirculations, while the turbulent transport terms were responsible for pollutant penetration between primary recirculations as well as pollutant removal from the street canyon.     

A note on average vertical profiles of vehicular pollutant concentrations in urban street canyons

Recent observations of air pollutant concentrations measured within and above street canyons were used to study the average vertical profiles of vehicular pollutant concentrations in the urban environment. The idea of an exponential vertical concentration distribution, exp( −Bz^q), resulted from a near ground-level source diffusing over flat terrain, was tentatively extended to the urban street canyons, where the empirical parameters B and q are generally dependent on the atmospheric stability and the aerodynamic characteristics of the canyon.     

Vertical transport of accumulation mode particles between two street canyons and the urban boundary layer

Concentrations and turbulent fluxes of accumulation mode particles were measured during the 2004–2005 ‘Canopy and Aerosol Particle Interaction in Toulouse Urban Layer’ project (CAPITOUL) at the top of two intersecting street canyons and in the urban boundary layer (UBL) in Toulouse, France. Particle numbers were strongly affected by boundary layer depth and showed limited sensitivity to local emissions. Differences in the diurnal patterns of particle numbers were observed between the finer fraction (0.3–0.4 μm) and coarser fraction (1.6–2.0 μm) of accumulation mode particles, indicating different processes of formation, evolution and transportation may be dominant. Highest particle numbers were observed in the narrow street canyon which had more limited local emissions and comparatively small particle fluxes. However, the improved ventilation rate in the wider canyon was also associated with the downward mixing of particles into the street canyon from the UBL. The results from this study clearly illustrate the temporal and spatial variability of particle numbers and fluxes in the urban atmosphere.     

温度层结对城市街区流场及污染物扩散影响的数值模拟研究

采用标准k-ε湍流模型研究了温度层结对三维街区流场和污染物扩散的影响.结果表明,温度层结对街区流场和污染物均有一定影响.随着不稳定性的增加,气流涡旋中心向地面靠近.中性温度层结下,污染物随着街区内的涡旋先向背风侧迁移,然后主要随气流向下游迁移,很少向上游街区迁移.而不稳定温度层结下,上游街区污染物浓度也随之增加.根据污...     

Modeling traffic-related air pollution in street canyons of Beijing

It is important to develop a general model to accurately simulate the air pollution in urban street areas. In this paper, the Operational Street Pollution Model (OSPM) initially developed in Denmark is tested with measured data from a relatively wide and open street in Beijing. Major factors influencing the dispersion, such as emission factors, stationary source emissions, and solar radiation, are analyzed. Results show that the model can reflect the basic dispersion pattern in the street but gives systematically higher concentrations. After modifications to estimate street-level wind speed in the model, performance is obviously improved.     

Temporal variations of atmospheric carbonyls in urban ambient air and street canyons of a Mountainous city in Southwest China

Carbonyl compounds in urban ambient air and street canyons were measured from December 2008 to August 2009 in a mountainous city in southwest China (Guiyang). The formaldehyde yield from the photo-oxidation of isoprene emitted by vegetation was estimated to be in the range of 0.63–3.62 μg m^?3 from May to August, which accounted for 28.8–33.4% of ambient formaldehyde. Based on the calculation of photolysis rates and rates of reaction with the OH radical, it was found that photolysis was the predominant sink for formaldehyde and acetone in both summer and winter. For acetaldehyde, photo-oxidation by OH radicals and photolysis were the major sinks in summer while photo-oxidation by OH radicals was the dominant sink in winter. Wet precipitation was found to be an important removal process for the atmospheric carbonyls. In the urban ambient air, the average concentrations of formaldehyde, acetaldehyde, acetone and all carbonyls were 4.8 ± 2.1, 5.7 ± 3.3, 5.1 ± 2.5, and 25.1 ± 9.2 μg m^?3 (n = 139), respectively. The average concentrations of these species in street canyons were 18.8 ± 6.5, 9.4 ± 3.2, 10.9 ± 2.1, and 64.1 ± 16.3 μg m^?3 (n = 62), respectively. The significantly higher carbonyl levels on weekdays (compared to weekends) highlight the contribution of vehicle emissions to carbonyls in the street canyons.     

Determination of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in urban street dust: implications for human health

The determination of sixteen polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in urban street dust has been done. Samples were collected from 12 sampling locations in a city centre location (Newcastle upon Tyne, north east England) and extracted using in situ pressurised fluid extraction followed by gas chromatography mass spectrometry. From the results it was possible to identify three groups, with respect to PAH concentration, with PAH contents ranging between 0.6-2.3 mg kg⁻¹, 15.6-22.5 mg kg⁻¹ and 36.1-46.0 mg kg⁻¹. The total PAH content of samples from these sampling sites has been compared to 22 urban locations around the world; comparable levels were found in these samples compared to the other cities around the world.The potential source of PAHs has been investigated by investigating the proportion of pyrogenic and petrogenic material in urban street dust using specific individual PAH ratios. The results indicate that the PAH content of urban street dust from the chosen sites are more likely to be due to pyrogenic sources i.e. vehicle exhaust emissions. The particle size fractions (<63 μm; 63-125 μm; 125-250 μm; 250-500 μm; 500-1000 μm; and 1000-2000 μm) of individual PAHs in three selected sampling sites was investigated. In two of the selected sites the PAH content was independent of particle size whereas in sampling site 10 elevated PAH levels are noted in the <63 μm size fraction. Sampling site 10 is located at the junction of three road tributaries which are used as major access points to the east of the city centre. Finally, the potential health risk for unintentional consumption of PAHs was assessed in terms of a mean daily intake (based on an ingestion rate of 100 mg d⁻¹). It was found that all 4-6 membered ring PAHs had concentrations in excess of the mean daily intake thereby reflecting a potential health risk, particularly in the smallest size particle fractions.     

Stemflow chemistry of urban street trees

pH and ion concentrations (Na(+), K(+), Mg(2+), Ca(2+), NO(-)(3)) in the stemflow of the evergreen broad-leaved tree, Ilex rotunda, planted in the median strip of a highway and nitrogen oxides concentration in the air in an urban site were compared with a suburban site in Fukuoka city, Japan. The annual average of the nitrogen oxides concentration in the air was higher and NO(-)(3) concentration in the stemflow at the urban site was higher or similar compared with the suburban site. However, the annual average of pH in the stemflow at the urban site was higher than at the suburban. The annual average cation concentrations in the stemflow at the urban site were higher than at the suburban except Na(+). In particular, K(+) and Ca(2+) were higher throughout the measurement period. Therefore, higher pH in the urban stemflow was probably due to neutralization by higher concentrations of K(+), Mg(2+) and Ca(2+).     

On the correlation of air and pollutant exchange for street canyons in combined wind-buoyancy-driven flow

The ventilation and pollutant transport in a two-dimensional (2D) street canyon of building-height-to-street-width (aspect) ratio h/b = 1 under different unstable stratifications were examined. To characterize the combined wind-buoyancy-driven flow and pollutant transport at different Richardson number Ri, a computational fluid dynamics (CFD) model based on the Reynolds-averaged Navier–Stokes (RANS) equations with the Renormalization Group (RNG) k ? ε turbulence model was adopted. Unlike the isothermal condition, a secondary recirculation is initiated at the ground-level windward corner of the street canyon once the unstable stratification is switched on (Ri < 0). It traps the ground-level pollutant leading to elevated pollutant concentration there. As Ri further decreases, the enlarging secondary recirculation enables direct pollutant removal from its core to the shear layer that offsets the ground-level pollutant accumulation. The ventilation and pollutant removal performance under different unstable stratifications are compared by the air (ACH) and pollutant (PCH) exchange rates, and pollutant retention time (τ). Both the mean and turbulent components of ACH are found to increase with decreasing Ri, suggesting that unstable stratification promotes ventilation in street canyons. Moreover, the CFD results agree well with our theoretical model that ACH² varies linearly with Ri. Turbulent transport originally dominates the pollutant removal under isothermal condition. However, progressive domination of pollutant removal by mean wind can be observed with decreasing stability (decreasing Ri from 0 to ?10.6). The critical value is estimated to be Ri = ?8, below which mean wind is the major pollutant removal carrier. Reduction in τ is also observed with decreasing Ri. Hence, in unstable stratification, pollutant resides shorter time in the street canyon compared with its isothermal counterpart, and the ventilation and pollutant removal are more favorable.     

Seasonal and vertical characteristics of particulate and elemental concentrations along diverse street canyons in South India

Environmental Science and Pollution Research - The impact of street geometries on vertical dispersion of PMs (PM2.5 and PM10) in (1) non-street canyon (NSC), (2) street canyon (SC), and (3) street...     

Simulations of the impacts of building height layout on air quality in natural-ventilated rooms around street canyons

Numerical simulations were conducted to investigate the effects of building height ratio (i.e., HR, the height ratio of the upstream building to the downstream building) on the air quality in buildings beside street canyons, and both regular and staggered canyons were considered for the simulations. The results show that the building height ratio affects not only the ventilation fluxes of the rooms in the downstream building but also the pollutant concentrations around the building. The parameter, outdoor effective source intensity of a room, is then proposed to calculate the amount of vehicular pollutants that enters into building rooms. Smaller value of this parameter indicates less pollutant enters the room. The numerical results reveal that HRs from 2/7 to 7/2 are the favorable height ratios for the regular canyons, as they obtain smaller values than the other cases. While HR values of 5/7, 7/7, and 7/5 are appropriate for staggered canyons. In addition, in terms of improving indoor air quality by natural ventilation, the staggered canyons with favorable HR are better than those of the regular canyons.     

Source,distribution, and health risk assessment of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in urban street dust from Tianjin,China

To better assess and understand potential health risk of urban residents exposed to urban street dust, the total concentration, sources, and distribution of 16 polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) in 87 urban street dust samples from Tianjin as a Chinese megacity that has undergone rapid urbanization were investigated. In the meantime, potential sources of PAHs were identified using the principal component analysis (PCA), and the risk of residents’ exposure to PAHs via urban street dust was calculated using the Incremental Lifetime Cancer Risk (ILCR) model. The results showed that the total PAHs (∑PAHs) in urban street dust from Tianjin ranged from 538 μg kg^?1 to 34.3 mg kg^?1, averaging 7.99 mg kg^?1. According to PCA, the two to three- and four to six-ring PAHs contributed 10.3 and 89.7 % of ∑PAHs, respectively. The ratio of the sum of major combustion specific compounds (ΣCOMB)?/?∑PAHs varied from 0.57 to 0.79, averaging 0.64. The ratio of Ant/(Ant?+?Phe) varied from 0.05 to 0.41, averaging 0.10; Fla/(Fla?+?Pyr) from 0.40 to 0.68, averaging 0.60; BaA/(BaA?+?Chry) from 0.29 to 0.51, averaging 0.38; and IcdP/(IcdP?+?BghiP) from 0.07 to 0.37, averaging 0.22. The biomass combustion, coal combustion, and traffic emission were the main sources of PAHs in urban street dust with the similar proportion. According to the ILCR model, the total cancer risk for children and adults was up to 2.55?×?10^?5 and 9.33?×?10^?5, respectively.     

Impact of building facades and ground heating on wind flow and pollutant transport in street canyons

This paper investigates the impacts of building facades and ground heating on the wind flow and pollutant transport in street canyons using the computational fluid dynamic (CFD) technique. Street canyons of H/W (H representing the building height and W the street width) varied from 0.1 to 2, which covered the basic flow regimes of skimming flow (H/W=1 or 2), wake interference flow (H/W=0.5), and isolated roughness flow (H/W=0.1), were examined in a series of sensitivity tests. Heating that occurred on different surfaces, including ground surface and building façades, posed considerable effects on the street canyon wind flow and pollutant transport compared with those under isothermal conditions. The CFD results showed that the mechanically induced wind flow and pollutant transport were complicated by the buoyancy under temperature stratification. Individual street canyons of different H/W and surface-heating scenarios exhibited their unique wind flow structure and pollutant transport behaviors. Two counter-rotating vortices were calculated in the street canyons of H/W=1, in which the zone of higher pollutant concentration under isothermal conditions was switched from the leeward side to the windward side. In the street canyon of H/W=2, the recirculating wind pattern was perturbed by surface heating that led to the development of either one primary vortex or three closely coupled vortices. Because of the complicated wind structure, the zones of higher pollutant concentration located either on the leeward or windward ground level were subjected to the surface-heating scenarios. Only two vortices were developed inside the street canyon of H/W=0.5. The large primary vortex, centered inside the street canyon, extended above the roof level of the street canyon. Meanwhile, a small secondary vortex was found at the ground-level windward corner whose size results as a function of surface-heating configurations. Finally, in the street canyon of H/W=0.1, an isolated clockwise-rotating vortex was developed beside the leeward building while the wind in the windward side blew in the prevailing wind direction. As a result, air pollutant emitted at the street centerline was unlikely to be carried into the leeward vortex. Instead, it was dispersed rapidly on the windward side before being removed from the street canyon.     

Modeling reactive pollutant dispersion in an urban street canyon

Reactive pollutant dispersion in an urban street canyon with a street aspect ratio of one is numerically investigated using a computational fluid dynamics (CFD) model. The CFD model developed is a Reynolds-averaged Navier–Stokes equations (RANS) model with the renormalization group (RNG) k–ε turbulence model and includes transport equations for NO, NO₂, and O₃ with simple photochemistry. An area emission source of NO and NO₂ is considered in the presence of background O₃ and street bottom heating (ΔT=5 °C) with an ambient wind perpendicular to the along-canyon direction. A primary vortex is formed in the street canyon and the line connecting the centers of cross-sectional vortices meanders over time and in the canyon space. The cross-canyon-averaged temperature and reactive pollutant concentrations oscillate with a period of about 15 min. The averaged temperature is found to be in phase with NO and NO₂ concentrations but out of phase with O₃ concentration. The photostationary state defect is small in the street canyon except for near the roof level and the upper downwind region of the canyon and its local minimum is observed near the center of the primary vortex. The budget analysis of NO (NO₂) concentration shows that the magnitude of the advection or turbulent diffusion term is much larger (larger) than that of the chemical reaction term and that the advection term is largely balanced by the turbulent diffusion term. On the other hand, the budget analysis of O₃ concentration shows that the magnitude of the chemical reaction term is comparable to that of the advection or turbulent diffusion term. The inhomogeneous temperature distribution itself affects O₃ concentration to some extent due to the temperature-dependent photolysis rate and reaction rate constant.     

城市街道灰尘重金属污染研究进展

国外学者对城市街道灰尘中重金属的积累分布、粒径效应及其生物有效性等已展开了一系列有效研究,而中国城市街道灰尘重金属污染相关研究起步较晚,研究内容主要包括重金属污染特征与空间分异。综述了城市街道灰尘重金属污染现状、粒径效应、来源以及重金属含量影响因素等方面的研究进展,并从对今后的城市街道灰尘重金属污染研究方向进行了展望。     

Loss of volatile hydrocarbons from an LNAPL oil source

The light nonaqueous phase liquid (LNAPL) oil pool in an aquifer that resulted from a pipeline spill near Bemidji, Minnesota, was analyzed for volatile hydrocarbons (VHCs) to determine if the composition of the oil remains constant over time. Oil samples were obtained from wells at five locations in the oil pool in an anaerobic part of the glacial outwash aquifer. Samples covering a 21-year period were analyzed for 25 VHCs. Compared to the composition of oil from the pipeline source, VHCs identified in oil from wells sampled in 2008 were 13 to 64% depleted. The magnitude of loss for the VHCs analyzed was toluene?o-xylene, benzene, C(6) and C(10-12)n-alkanes>C(7)-C(9)n-alkanes>m-xylene, cyclohexane, and 1- and 2-methylnaphthalene>1,2,4-trimethylbenzene and ethylbenzene. Other VHCs including p-xylene, 1,3,5- and 1,2,3-trimethylbenzenes, the tetramethylbenzenes, methyl- and ethyl-cyclohexane, and naphthalene were not depleted during the time of the study. Water-oil and air-water batch equilibration simulations indicate that volatilization and biodegradation is most important for the C(6)-C(9)n-alkanes and cyclohexanes; dissolution and biodegradation is important for most of the other hydrocarbons. Depletion of the hydrocarbons in the oil pool is controlled by: the lack of oxygen and nutrients, differing rates of recharge, and the spatial distribution of oil in the aquifer. The mass loss of these VHCs in the 5 wells is between 1.6 and 7.4% in 29years or an average annual loss of 0.06-0.26%/year. The present study shows that the composition of LNAPL changes over time and that these changes are spatially variable. This highlights the importance of characterizing the temporal and spatial variabilities of the source term in solute-transport models.