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Impacts of shape and height of upstream roof on airflow and pollutant dispersion inside an urban street canyon

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Abstract

A two-dimensional numerical model for simulating flow and pollutant dispersion in an urban street canyon is firstly developed using the FLUENT code and then validated against the wind tunnel results. After this, the flow field and pollutant dispersion inside an urban street canyon with aspect ratio W/H = 1 are examined numerically considering five different shapes (vaulted, trapezoidal, slanted, upward wedged, and downward wedged roofs) as well as three different roof height to building height ratios (Z H /H = 1/6, 1/3, and 1/2) for the upstream building roof. The results obtained reveal that the shape and height of an upstream roof have significant influences on flow pattern and pollutant distribution in an urban canyon. A large single clockwise vortex is generated in the canyon for the vaulted upstream roof at Z H /H = 1/6, 1/3, and 1/2, the trapezoidal and downward wedged roofs at Z H /H = 1/6 and 1/3, and the slanted and upward wedged roofs at Z H /H = 1/6, while a main clockwise vortex and a secondary counterclockwise vortex are established for the trapezoidal and downward wedged roofs at Z H /H = 1/2 and the slanted and upward wedged roofs at Z H /H = 1/3 and 1/2. In the one-vortex flow regime, the clockwise vortex moves upward and grows in size with increasing upstream roof height for the vaulted, trapezoidal, and downward wedged roofs. In the two-vortex flow regime, the size and rotational velocity of both upper clockwise and lower counterclockwise vortices increase with the upstream roof height for the slanted and upward wedged roofs. At Z H /H = 1/6, the pollution levels in the canyon are close among all the upstream roof shapes studied. At Z H /H = 1/3, the pollution levels in the canyon for the upward wedged roof and slanted roof are much higher than those for the vaulted, trapezoidal, and downward wedged roofs. At Z H /H = 1/2, the lowest pollution level appears in the canyon for the vaulted upstream roof, while the highest pollution level occurs in the canyon for the upward wedged roof.

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Acknowledgments

This work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant No. 50908147) and the Innovation Program of Shanghai Municipal Education Commission (Grant No. 10ZZ95).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Environment and Architecture, University of Shanghai for Science and Technology, 200093, Shanghai, China

    Yuan-dong Huang & Wen-rong He

  2. College of Engineering, Kyung Hee University, Yongin, 449-701, South Korea

    Yuan-dong Huang & Chang-Nyung Kim

  3. Industrial Liaison Research Institute, Kyung Hee University, Yongin, 449-701, South Korea

    Chang-Nyung Kim

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  1. Yuan-dong Huang
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  2. Wen-rong He
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  3. Chang-Nyung Kim
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Correspondence to Yuan-dong Huang or Chang-Nyung Kim.

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Responsible editor: Michael Matthies

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Huang, Yd., He, Wr. & Kim, CN. Impacts of shape and height of upstream roof on airflow and pollutant dispersion inside an urban street canyon. Environ Sci Pollut Res 22, 2117–2137 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-014-3422-6

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-014-3422-6

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