Numerical investigations of reactive pollutant dispersion and personal exposure in 3D urban-like models

Zhang, Y., Yang, X., Yang, H., Zhang, K., Wang, X., Hang, J., Luo, Z. ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2082-3958 and Zhou, S. (2020) Numerical investigations of reactive pollutant dispersion and personal exposure in 3D urban-like models. Building and Environment, 169. 106569. ISSN 0360-1323 doi: 10.1016/j.buildenv.2019.106569

Abstract/Summary

With satisfactory validation by experimental data, we perform computational fluid dynamic(CFD) simulations with the standard k- model to investigate how NO-NO2-O3 photochemistry and turbulent mixing influence reactive pollutant dispersion and vehicular NOx exposure in 21-row(neighborhood-scale~1km) three-dimensional(3D) medium-dense urban models with an approaching wind parallel(perpendicular) to the main(secondary) streets. Personal intake fraction P_iF and its spatially-averaged values for the entire building (i.e. building intake fraction <P_iF>B) are adopted for reactive/passive exposure analysis with/without NOx-O3-photochemistry. Some meaningful findings are proposed: 1) There are flow adjustment processes coupling turbulent mixing and chemical reactions through urban areas(i.e. secondary Street 1 to 20). NO-NO2-O3 photochemistry induces O3 depletion and NO conversion into NO2 producing significant increase in NO2 exposure and slight decrease in NO exposure compared with passive dispersion. 2) With span-wise NOx sources, Street 10 in the fully-developed region experiences weaker wind and subsequently greater <P_iF>B(0.207ppm) than Street 3(0.135ppm) in the upstream flow-adjustment region. <P_iF>B descends exponentially from the target building toward downstream, and Street 10 experiences quicker decay rates. 3) With stream-wise NOx sources along the main street, <P_iF>B first ascends, then reaches equilibrium values (e.g.0.046-0.049ppm for passive). 4) If background O3 concentration [O3] rises from 20ppbv to 40 and 100ppbv, more NO is oxidized by O3 to generate NO2. As [O3]=20ppbv, if NO-NO2 emission ratio decreases from 10 to 5, NO2 exposure is partly offset but NO exposure change little. Present methodologies are confirmed effective to investigate impacts of more complicated meteorological conditions and chemical mechanisms on exposure in urban districts.

Item Type	Article
URI	https://reading-clone.eprints-hosting.org/id/eprint/87490
Identification Number/DOI	10.1016/j.buildenv.2019.106569
Refereed	Yes
Divisions	Interdisciplinary Research Centres (IDRCs) > Walker Institute Science > School of the Built Environment > Urban Living group Science > School of the Built Environment > Energy and Environmental Engineering group
Publisher	Elsevier
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