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Numerical simulation of formaldehyde distribution characteristics in the high-speed train cabin

  • Research Article
  • Indoor/Outdoor Airflow and Air Quality
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Abstract

The global concern over indoor air pollution in public vehicles has grown significantly. With a focus on enhancing passengers’ comfort and health, this study endeavors to investigate the distribution characteristics of formaldehyde within a high-speed train cabin by employing a computational fluid dynamics (CFD) model which is experimentally validated in a real cabin scenario. The research focuses on analyzing the impact of air supply modes, temperature, relative humidity, and fresh air change rate on the distribution and concentration of formaldehyde. The results demonstrate that the difference in average formaldehyde concentration between the two air supply modes is below 1.3%, but the top air supply mode leads to a higher accumulation of formaldehyde near the sidewalls, while the bottom air supply mode promotes a more uniform distribution of formaldehyde. Furthermore, the temperature, relative humidity, and fresh air change rate are the primary factors affecting formaldehyde concentration levels, but they have modest effects on formaldehyde’s distribution pattern within the cabin. As the temperature and relative humidity increase, the changes in formaldehyde concentrations in response to variations in these factors become more evident. Importantly, the formaldehyde concentration may surpass the standard limit of 0.10 mg/m3 if the fresh air change rate falls below 212 m3/h. This research provides a systematic approach and referenceable results for exploring formaldehyde pollution in high-speed train cabins.

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Acknowledgements

This work is supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 52072413) and the graduate school of Central South University (No. 1053320220012). The authors are grateful for resources from the High-Performance Computing Center of Central South University.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Key Laboratory of Traffic Safety on Track, Ministry of Education, School of Traffic & Transportation Engineering, Central South University, Changsha, Hunan, 410075, China

    Fan Wu, Hang Dong, Hengkui Li & Renze Xu

  2. Joint International Research Laboratory of Key Technologies for Rail Traffic Safety, Changsha, Hunan, 410075, China

    Fan Wu, Chao Yu & Renze Xu

  3. National & Local Joint Engineering Research Center of Safety Technology for Rail Vehicle, Changsha, Hunan, 410075, China

    Chao Yu & Renze Xu

  4. School of Software, Henan University of Engineering, Zhengzhou, Henan, 451191, China

    Qingmin Cui

Authors
  1. Fan Wu
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  2. Hang Dong
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  3. Chao Yu
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  4. Hengkui Li
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  5. Qingmin Cui
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  6. Renze Xu
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Contributions

All authors contributed to the study’s conception and design. The conceptualization and methodology were provided by Fan Wu. The preliminary research work, simulations, and experiments were performed by Hang Dong. The results analysis was conducted by Fan Wu and Hang Dong, with support from Chao Yu, Hengkui Li, and Qingming Cui. The supervision, reviewing, and editing were done by Renze Xu. The first draft of the manuscript was written by Hang Dong and all authors commented on previous versions of the manuscript. All authors have read and approved the final manuscript.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Renze Xu.

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The authors have no competing interests to declare that are relevant to the content of this article.

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Wu, F., Dong, H., Yu, C. et al. Numerical simulation of formaldehyde distribution characteristics in the high-speed train cabin. Build. Simul. 17, 285–300 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12273-023-1078-1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12273-023-1078-1

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