Effect of building cross-section shape on air pollutant dispersion around buildings

Abstract This research investigates the effect of building cross-section shape on the air pollutant dispersion around an isolated building. A Computational Fluid Dynamic (CFD) model was developed and validated based on detailed wind tunnel experimental data. Both Large Eddy Simulation (LES) and Realizable k-e models were used for turbulence closure and LES was found to provide a better agreement with experimental results than the RANS model, particularly in replicating pollutant dispersion characteristics associated with wind-structure interaction. The LES model was then utilized to study the effect of building cross-section shape. Four building cross-section shapes, square, chamfered, curved and circular, along with different air pollutant emission locations were studied. It has been found that the area around an isolated building can be categorized into three emission regions, namely the windward critical emission region, the leeward critical emission region and the side non-critical emission region. The air pollutant emissions from the leeward critical emission region affect the building the most. Furthermore, the size of this region depends on the building cross-section shape, with the circular and curved buildings having a smaller leeward critical emission region than those for the chamfered and square buildings. Evidently, air pollutant dispersion around a building is dominated by wind-structure interaction which in turn is dependent on the building cross-sectional shape. These characteristics can be utilized to mitigate air pollutant dispersion in urban environments in conjunction with careful consideration of the air pollutant emission location relative to a building.