Effect of stack height and exhaust velocity on pollutant dispersion in the wake of a building

The dispersion of pollutants exhausted from a building roof stack located in the wake of a tower is investigated by means of the realizable k–ɛ turbulence model. Variations in stack height and pollutant exhaust velocity are considered to assess their influence on the distribution of pollutant concentrations in the neighbourhood of the emitting building. In order to determine optimum locations for fresh-air intakes, the worst case is considered, namely when the wind originates directly upstream of the tower and places the emitting building in its wake. Special attention is given to the evolution of the plume and distribution of pollutant concentrations on the roof and windward wall of the emitting building, as well as on the leeward wall of the upwind tower. Simulation results are compared to wind tunnel experiments conducted in a boundary layer wind tunnel. For this particular configuration, the paper shows that increasing the stack height has an effect similar to that obtained by increasing the momentum ratio, but with some differences, depending upon which wall of the two buildings is considered. On the emitting building, the leeward wall has the lowest concentration values for all stack heights and momentum ratios considered; thus this is the best location for fresh-air intakes. However, for the tower, fresh-air intakes should not be located on the leeward wall due to high pollutant concentrations. The results show completely different pollutant dispersion patterns from those for an isolated building. This highlights the importance of accounting for structures that lie in close proximity to the emitting building.

► This paper has investigated the dispersion of a pollutant emitted from a roof stack in a two-building configuration.
► The effect of stack height and pollutant exhaust velocity on the fresh-air-intake locations has been examined.
► It was found that omitting the upstream building can lead to major design errors regarding the fresh-air-intake locations.
► Increasing the stack height has an effect that is similar to increasing the pollutant exhaust velocity.
► The nature of this effect depends upon the wall of the building under consideration.