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Building Simulation 2023, 16(9): 1735-1758 https://doi.org/10.1007/s12273-023-1042-0
Research Article | Issue | Published: 19 August 2023

Physio-chemical modeling of the NOx-O3 photochemical cycle and the air pollutants’ reactive dispersion around an isolated building

Show Author's Information Yunfei Fu1,§,  Xisheng Lin1,§,  Xing Zheng2,  Liangzhu Wang3,  Chun-Ho Liu4,  Xuelin Zhang6,  Cruz Y. Li5( ),  K.T. Tse1( )
Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, Clear Water Bay, Kowloon, Hong Kong, China
Future Cities Lab Global, Singapore-ETH Centre, Singapore 138602
Department of Building, Civil and Environmental Engineering at Concordia University, Montreal, Quebec, Canada
Department of Mechanical Engineering, The University of Hong Kong, Pok-fu-lam Road, Hong Kong, China
Department of Civil Engineering, Chongqing University, Chongqing, China
School of Atmospheric Sciences, Sun Yat-sen University, Zhuhai, China

§ Yunfei Fu and Xisheng Lin contributed equally to this work.

Keywords:
modelling, dispersion, air, building, pollutant, pollution, reactive, NOx-O3, cycle, isolated, physio-chemical
Cite this article:
Fu Y, Lin X, Zheng X, et al. Physio-chemical modeling of the NOx-O3 photochemical cycle and the air pollutants’ reactive dispersion around an isolated building. Building Simulation, 2023, 16(9): 1735-1758. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12273-023-1042-0
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Abstract Full text Electronic supplementary material About this article

A numerical physio-chemical model of the NOx-O3 photochemical cycle in the near-wake region of an isolated residential/office building has been presented in this study. The investigation delves into the dispersion of reactive air pollutants through the lens of fluid phenomenology and its impact on chemical reactivity, formation, transport, deposition, and removal. Computational fluid dynamics (CFD) simulations were conducted for the ground-point-source (GES) and roof-point-source (RES) scenarios. Results show that the Damköhler number (Da), which quantifies pollutants’ physio-chemical timescales, displays a strong inverse proportionality with the magnitude and spread of NO–increasing Da reduces human exposure to the toxic NO and NO2 substantially. When different wind directions were considered, the dispersion range of NO exhibited varying shrinking directions as Da increased. Furthermore, as Da increases, the concentration ratio KNO2/KNOx, which quantifies the production of NO2 resulting from NO depletion, forms sharp high-low gradients near emission sources. For GES, the dispersion pattern is governed by the fluid’s phenomenological features. For RES, the intoxicated area emanates from the building’s leading-edge, with the lack of shielding inhibiting pollutant interactions in the near-wake, resulting in scant physio-chemical coupling. The NO2/NOx distribution follows a self-similar, stratified pattern, exhibiting consistent layering gradients and attributing to the natural deposition of the already-reacted pollutants rather than in-situ reactions. In the end, building design guidelines have been proposed to reduce pedestrian and resident exposure to NOx-O3.


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About this article

Physio-chemical modeling of the NOx-O3 photochemical cycle and the air pollutants’ reactive dispersion around an isolated building

Show Author's information Yunfei Fu1,§, Xisheng Lin1,§, Xing Zheng2, Liangzhu Wang3, Chun-Ho Liu4, Xuelin Zhang6, Cruz Y. Li5( ), K.T. Tse1( )
Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, Clear Water Bay, Kowloon, Hong Kong, China
Future Cities Lab Global, Singapore-ETH Centre, Singapore 138602
Department of Building, Civil and Environmental Engineering at Concordia University, Montreal, Quebec, Canada
Department of Mechanical Engineering, The University of Hong Kong, Pok-fu-lam Road, Hong Kong, China
Department of Civil Engineering, Chongqing University, Chongqing, China
School of Atmospheric Sciences, Sun Yat-sen University, Zhuhai, China

§ Yunfei Fu and Xisheng Lin contributed equally to this work.

Abstract

A numerical physio-chemical model of the NOx-O3 photochemical cycle in the near-wake region of an isolated residential/office building has been presented in this study. The investigation delves into the dispersion of reactive air pollutants through the lens of fluid phenomenology and its impact on chemical reactivity, formation, transport, deposition, and removal. Computational fluid dynamics (CFD) simulations were conducted for the ground-point-source (GES) and roof-point-source (RES) scenarios. Results show that the Damköhler number (Da), which quantifies pollutants’ physio-chemical timescales, displays a strong inverse proportionality with the magnitude and spread of NO–increasing Da reduces human exposure to the toxic NO and NO2 substantially. When different wind directions were considered, the dispersion range of NO exhibited varying shrinking directions as Da increased. Furthermore, as Da increases, the concentration ratio KNO2/KNOx, which quantifies the production of NO2 resulting from NO depletion, forms sharp high-low gradients near emission sources. For GES, the dispersion pattern is governed by the fluid’s phenomenological features. For RES, the intoxicated area emanates from the building’s leading-edge, with the lack of shielding inhibiting pollutant interactions in the near-wake, resulting in scant physio-chemical coupling. The NO2/NOx distribution follows a self-similar, stratified pattern, exhibiting consistent layering gradients and attributing to the natural deposition of the already-reacted pollutants rather than in-situ reactions. In the end, building design guidelines have been proposed to reduce pedestrian and resident exposure to NOx-O3.

Keywords: modelling, dispersion, air, building, pollutant, pollution, reactive, NOx-O3, cycle, isolated, physio-chemical

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Acknowledgements

Publication history

Received: 21 January 2023
Revised: 02 May 2023
Accepted: 09 May 2023
Published: 19 August 2023
Issue date: September 2023

Copyright

© Tsinghua University Press 2023

Acknowledgements

Acknowledgements

We would like to express our gratitude to the IT Office of the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering at the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology for their invaluable assistance in the installation, testing, and maintenance of our high-performance servers. Additionally, Xing Zheng would like to acknowledge the support of Future Cities Lab Global at Singapore-ETH Centre. Future Cities Lab Global is supported and funded by the National Research Foundation, Prime Minister’s Office, Singapore under its Campus for Research Excellence and Technological Enterprise (CREATE) programme and ETH Zurich (ETHZ).

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