Wind Wake Studies, Wind Engineering, Effluent Dispersion

Examples of how CFD may be used to evaluate effluence from building sources and the effects of wind on structures.

Isosurfaces of 5 different gases from roof exhaust stacks. Each color coded isosurface represents both a specified concentration and the type of gas (e.g. - benzene at 3ppm). This output allows building designers to avoid poor air quality at the intakes.

Isosurfaces of 2 different gases from roof exhaust stacks. Each color coded isosurface represents both a specified concentration and the type of gas (e.g. - benzene at 3ppm). Intakes are shown in red on the side of the building.

Topography of a Terrain... Through the use of unstructured meshes with tetrahedral elements, CAES is able to translate rolling hills, valleys and embankments from topographical maps into a CFD grid. This capability can be important to account for effects induced by the topography on the prevailing wind (e.g. - a steep bank near a building). Unstructured meshes also allow us to define non-rectangular objects such as cylindrical or spherical tanks, trapezoidal blocks, or slanted walls. These capabilities are a regular part of our integrated software and are not easily reproduced by our competitors, especially those using structured mesh software.

Off Shore Drilling Platform... Pressures and wind velocities are shown both the surfaces of the platform and on the water. The calculated surface pressure can be used to determine the forces on the platform and its support structure.

Wind Wake Analysis of Lab Buildings … This figure shows the dispersion of a chemical from several fumehood exhaust stacks around a lab building. The Isosurfaces indicate the dilution of chemical as a function of distance from the stacks and give designers a tool for gauging the probability of intake contamination from those stacks. The Isosurfaces appear as partially transparent clouds of three dilution factors.

Wind Wake Analysis of a Lab Building in an Urban Setting … Shown in this figure are streaklines flowing from fumehood stacks on the roof of a lab building. The building is located on an urban campus with many other buildings nearby. The intent of the study is to judge the probability of fresh air intakes becoming contaminated with effluent from the lab building. The domain for this analysis is nearly one mile across and contains streets, a raised expressway, pedestrian paths and exhaust gases from vehicles.