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Impacts of specific street geometry on airflow and traffic pollutant dispersion inside a street canyon

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Abstract

In this study, a validated CFD model is used to analyze the flow field and pollutant distribution in an isolated canyon (street aspect ratio, W/H = 1) by considering different street categories and arrangements of void deck under a perpendicular inflow wind. The results reveal that the street geometry affects significantly the in-canyon flow structures and thus the pollutant distributions. Comparing with the regular street canyon (a main clockwise vortex is obtained therein), the void deck can cause several vortices when a strong stream of air passes through the canyon. It is the most conducive to pollutant removal for the void decks at both buildings, while the construction with void deck at the upstream building causes pollutant accumulation on the windward side. Moreover, a larger high-pollution zone is generated above the elevated road due to the wind recirculation therein, and for the two-level street and the street with depressed road, the weak wind leads to the accumulation of traffic pollutants in the underground space. This study will provide technical support for urban street planning and design to alleviate traffic pollution.

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Availability of data and materials

The datasets used and/or analyzed during the current study are available from the corresponding author on reasonable request.

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Funding

This work was supported by the Key Research and Development Projects of Shanghai Science and Technology Commission (No. 20dz1204000), the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant No. 51536006), and Shanghai Sailing Program (No.18YF1417600).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Environment and Architecture, University of Shanghai for Science and Technology, No.516, Jungong Road, Yangpu District, Shanghai, 200093, China

    Yuan-dong Huang, Su-qi Ren, Nuo Xu, Yang Luo, Chung Hyok Sin & Peng-Yi Cui

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  1. Yuan-dong Huang
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  2. Su-qi Ren
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  3. Nuo Xu
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  4. Yang Luo
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  5. Chung Hyok Sin
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  6. Peng-Yi Cui
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Contributions

Prof. Dr. Yuan-Dong Huang is the lead author of this paper, and has planned the research content and drafted the first draft of the article.

Miss Su-Qi Ren has contributed to the numerical model creation and data processing.

Miss Nuo Xu has contributed to all the numerical calculations and drawn the figures and tables.

Dr. Yang Luo has carefully edited the grammar, spelling, and sentence structures of this paper.

Mr. Chung Hyok Sin has contributed to the validation of the numerical model with wind-tunnel tests.

Dr. Peng-Yi Cui is the corresponding author, mainly involved in research content and guidance on numerical methods.

All authors read and approved the final manuscript.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Peng-Yi Cui.

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Huang, Yd., Ren, Sq., Xu, N. et al. Impacts of specific street geometry on airflow and traffic pollutant dispersion inside a street canyon. Air Qual Atmos Health 15, 1133–1152 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11869-021-01101-y

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11869-021-01101-y

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