Distribution of pollutant concentrations downwind of a point source in the near wake of a building

Thesis/Dissertation · Fri Jan 01 04:00:00 EST 1988

OSTI ID:5520444

Huber, A H

The purpose of this study was to examine the primary spatial and temporal scales of pollutant diffusion and transport in the wake of a building. A series of wind-tunnel experiments was conducted to study the influence of the highly turbulent air flow adjacent to a model building upon point-source emissions through smoke flow visualization and inert tracer gas concentration mapping. The experiments were designed to evaluate the influences of source height, building width, building orientation into the wind, and overall building scale. Dispersion data correspond to time-averaged concentrations for periods of constant wind direction. The digitization of video recorded images of smoke provided a practical method for estimating the primary spatial and temporal scales of dispersion in the wake of a building. A method was developed for estimating enhanced dispersion parameters resulting from the overall effect of the building. A Gaussian plume equation, modified to incorporate the building-wake-enhanced dispersion parameters beyond the wake cavity region, provided estimates of concentrations at ground level. The model was evaluated against field measurements from previous studies.

• Research Organization: North Carolina State Univ., Raleigh, NC (USA)
• OSTI ID: 5520444
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

500200* -- Environment
Atmospheric-- Chemicals Monitoring & Transport-- (-1989)
54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES
AIR FLOW
AIR POLLUTION
BUILDINGS
ECOLOGICAL CONCENTRATION
ENVIRONMENTAL TRANSPORT
FLUID FLOW
GAS FLOW
INTERFERENCE
MASS TRANSFER
MATHEMATICAL MODELS
PLUMES
POINT POLLUTANT SOURCES
POLLUTION
POLLUTION SOURCES
TUNNELS
TURBULENCE
UNDERGROUND FACILITIES
WIND
WIND TUNNELS