CFD model to study PM10 dispersion in large-scale open spaces

Air pollution has become a major concern in industrial or highly populated areas. Although legislation has been enacted to limit pollution levels, air quality monitoring still needs to be carried out by stations which are located at fixed points unable to provide the spatial evolution of pollutants....

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Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores: Fernández Pacheco, Víctor Manuel|||0000-0001-6069-0443, Álvarez Álvarez, Eduardo, Blanco Marigorta, Eduardo, Ackermann, Thomas
Tipo de recurso: artículo
Fecha de publicación:2023
País:España
Institución:Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya (UPC)
Repositorio:UPCommons. Portal del coneixement obert de la UPC
Idioma:inglés
OAI Identifier:oai:upcommons.upc.edu:2117/442730
Acceso en línea:https://hdl.handle.net/2117/442730
https://dx.doi.org/10.1038/s41598-023-33144-9
Access Level:acceso abierto
Palabra clave:Air pollution
Pollution levels
Air quality monitoring
Spatial evolution of pollutants
Computational Fluid Dynamics
Spatial evolution of pollutants in large areas
Àrees temàtiques de la UPC::Desenvolupament humà i sostenible::Degradació ambiental::Contaminació atmosfèrica
Àrees temàtiques de la UPC::Desenvolupament humà i sostenible::Política i gestió ambiental::Sistemes de gestió ambiental
Àrees temàtiques de la UPC::Desenvolupament humà i sostenible::Degradació ambiental
Descripción
Sumario:Air pollution has become a major concern in industrial or highly populated areas. Although legislation has been enacted to limit pollution levels, air quality monitoring still needs to be carried out by stations which are located at fixed points unable to provide the spatial evolution of pollutants. This research, focused on the city of Gijón (Asturias), includes a Computational Fluid Dynamics model capable of simulating the dispersion of pollutants in a large urban environment (12x18 km2}. Different wind conditions were simulated with two sources of emission. The results show the influence of the terrain on the dispersion of pollutants in open spaces whilst simultaneously scrutinizing the origin of diffuse industrial pollution circulating over the city of Gijon. The simulation allows us to set limits in the areas with higher levels of contamination or to analyse the variations of particle concentration in height. Therefore, this research defines and validates a methodology to generate numerical models which grant us the opportunity to observe the spatial evolution of pollutants in large areas. This result endorses further use in other lines of research, such as the evaluation of corrective measures to improve air quality in highly polluted environments.