Computational Fluid Dynamics Modelling of the Pollution Dispersion and Comparison with Measurements in a Street Canyon in Helsinki

A measuring campaign was conducted in a street canyon (Runeberg St.) in Helsinki in 2003–2004. The concentrations of NO _x , NO₂, PM₁₀ and PM_2.5 were measured at street level and at roof level at an urban background location. This study utilises the data measured from 1 Jan to 30 April, 2004, when wind speed and direction measurements were also conducted on-site at the roof level. The computational fluid dynamics model ADREA-HF was used to compute the street concentrations, and the results were compared with the measurements. The predictions for the selected cases agreed fairly well (within < 25 % for 15 min average values) with the measured data, except for two cases: a windward flow in case of a low wind speed, and a moderate southerly flow parallel to the street canyon. The main reasons for the differences of predictions and measurements are the negligence of traffic-induced turbulence in the modelling and an under-prediction of ventilation of urban background air from a crossing street. Numerical results are presented for various example cases; these illustrate the formation of the vortices in the canyon in terms of the wind direction and speed and the influence of the characteristics of the flow fields on the concentration distributions.     

Assessment of a General Finite Line Source Model and CALINE4 for Vehicular Pollution Prediction in Ireland

A comparative evaluation of two Gaussian-based line source models namely, California line source dispersion model version 4 and the general finite line source model, is presented. The concentrations predicted by these models are compared with background-corrected ambient concentrations measured at three different distances from a motorway and performance of both models assessed in the context of integrated transport–environment modelling for regulatory purposes.     

Incomplete mixing in a small, urban stream

Conservative solute tracer experiments were conducted in Indian Creek, a small urban stream located in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA. Estimated flow rates were between 46 Ls(-1) and 81 Ls(-1), average stream width was 5.5m and average stream depth was 0.2m. Given these dimensions, most researchers would think it reasonable to assume that the stream is completely mixed vertically and horizontally. However, we found that the stream was not vertically completely mixed in a 1.0m deep, 30 m long pool. The limited mixing was demonstrated by the vertical stratification of a tracer cloud which was completely mixed both laterally and vertically across the stream prior to entering the pool. We suggest that the cause of limited mixing is due to a balance between groundwater inflow and transverse dispersion at the cross-section. We show that the unsupported assumption of complete mixing may result in a wide range, and thus increased uncertainty, of the values of stream flow and longitudinal dispersion coefficient estimated from these data. We conclude that the assumption of complete mixing and one-dimensional modeling must be checked against actual field conditions, even in small streams.     

Dust cloud evolution and flame propagation of organic dust deflagration under low wall influence

The present study discusses experiments on organic dust explosions in a setup with low wall influence. The proposed apparatus decouples the dust dispersion and the deflagration event in two separate compartments. The use of a continuous-wave laser to illuminate the centre plane of the observation chamber allows capturing both, the dust cloud and the flame during the same experiment and eliminates typical problems caused by the limited dynamic range of high-speed cameras. A k-means clustering method is used for image segmentation to obtain the spatial extent and the propagation velocities of the unreacted particle cloud and the flame zone. Spatially resolved velocities are calculated by the additional use of an optical flow method. The main goal of the presented setup and image processing method is to provide high quality validation data for the development of numerical models on dust deflagration.     

An improved model for heavy gas dispersion using time-varying wind data: Mathematical basis,physical assumptions,and case studies

This study developed an improved model for the dispersion of released toxic gases, SLABi, based on the widely used model SLAB. Two major improvements enhanced the model's ability to represent observations. First, SLAB was upgraded to account for temporal variation in wind vectors. Thus, real-time changes in meteorological conditions can be considered in dispersion forecasting. Second, a source term module was developed and embedded in SLABi to standardize the procedure of emission calculation. Both the standard SLAB model and the SLABi model were applied to a case study to evaluate the impact of time-varying winds on the dispersion of released gases. The results showed that meteorology has a significant influence on the dispersion of released gases. The SLABi model can provide decision makers with timely and accurate guidance, so as to minimize hazards to people and the environment.     

北京地区采暖期SO2熏烟型污染及评估

随着北京城市建设的发展，为了保护环境，北京市的新建生活区均采用集中供热系统。燃烧后的有害气体通过烟排向大气，经过高空稀释后的烟气可以降低污染负荷，但是在某此气象条件下仍然造成了地面局部污染，本文在北京市丰台区一个生活小区的供热系统污染源环境影响评价的基础上，讨论了熏烟污染的发生及危害。     

Emergency evacuation model assuming leakage of toxic substances in a chemical plant

Preparedness of emergency evacuation for the leakage of toxic substances in chemical plants is very important in order to reduce damage. In order to implement an emergency evacuation properly, it is necessary to comprehensively and concretely determine the conditions of the leakage and atmospheric conditions and predict the consequences of the dispersed gases. Repeated training for emergencies is also essential. In order to realize effective evacuation, a prediction model of the evacuation area that anyone can use to obtain the same results both accurately and promptly is developed in the present study. The prediction model is designed such that the wind speed and atmospheric conditions are automatically set, and the leakage rate is the only input parameter, so that anyone can use the model easily. In addition, the model can also predict the atmospheric parameters for up to 3 h and can calculate the evacuation distance so that smooth evacuation can be achieved for changing atmospheric conditions. Finally, the evacuation area is defined by statistically analysed wind fluctuations, and a series of emergency evacuation measures is implemented.     

Choice of dispersion coefficients in reactive transport calculations on smoothed fields

Local dispersion dominates the mixing of compounds that are introduced separately into the subsurface and do not partition into any other than the aqueous phase. Thus, reactions between these compounds are controlled by dispersive mixing if they are not limited by kinetics. I quantify longitudinal dispersive mixing by the longitudinal effective dispersion coefficient of a conservative tracer introduced by a point-like injection [Water Resour. Res. 36 (12) (2000) 3591-3604]. In the upscaling of mixing-controlled reactive transport, I apply the mean velocity and the effective dispersion coefficient to the macroscopic transport calculations, whereas the reactive parameters on the macro-scale are identical to those on the local scale. The applicability of the approach is demonstrated for the transport of compounds undergoing a second-order irreversible bimolecular reaction. Ten realizations of a two-dimensional heterogeneous log-conductivity field are considered. Using the effective dispersion parameters, the overall mass balance is met in the ensemble average, whereas solute spreading is underestimated. I assess the lack of spreading by the difference between the expected macrodispersion and effective dispersion coefficients. I extend the approach to simulations on log-conductivity fields obtained by kriging of regularly spaced conductivity measurements. These fields contain the large-scale features of the true fields but do not resolve the small-scale variability. For the calculations on the kriged fields, the corresponding conditional covariance is substituted into the analytical expressions of effective dispersion, yielding a correction effective dispersion coefficient. The comparison between simulations on the fully resolved fields and on the kriged fields indicates that the approach is valid for wide plumes meeting the ergodicity condition. The high variability of mixing on small scales unresolved by kriging, however, leads to severe uncertainty when mixing-controlled reactions are predicted for narrow plumes.