Urban-Scale Computational Fluid Dynamics Simulations with Boundary Conditions from Similarity Theory and a Mesoscale Model

Demetri Bouris, Athanasios G. Triantafyllou, Athina Krestou, Elena Leivaditou, John Skordas, Efstathios Konstantinidis, Anastasios Kopanidis and Qing Wang
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Demetri Bouris: Laboratory for Innovative Environmental Technologies, School of Mechanical Engineering, National Technical University of Athens, 15780 Zograou, Greece
Athanasios G. Triantafyllou: Laboratory of Atmospheric Pollution and Environmental Physics, Department of Mineral Resources Engineering, University of Western Macedonia, 50132 Κozani, Greece
Athina Krestou: Laboratory of Atmospheric Pollution and Environmental Physics, Department of Mineral Resources Engineering, University of Western Macedonia, 50132 Κozani, Greece
Elena Leivaditou: Laboratory of Atmospheric Pollution and Environmental Physics, Department of Mineral Resources Engineering, University of Western Macedonia, 50132 Κozani, Greece
John Skordas: Laboratory of Atmospheric Pollution and Environmental Physics, Department of Mineral Resources Engineering, University of Western Macedonia, 50132 Κozani, Greece
Efstathios Konstantinidis: Department of Mechanical Engineering, University of Western Macedonia, 50100 Κozani, Greece
Anastasios Kopanidis: Department of Mechanical Engineering, University of Western Macedonia, 50100 Κozani, Greece
Qing Wang: Meteorology Department, Naval Postgraduate School, Monterey, CA 93943-5006, USA

Energies, 2021, vol. 14, issue 18, 1-22

Abstract: Mesoscale numerical weather prediction models usually provide information regarding environmental parameters near urban areas at a spatial resolution of the order of thousands or hundreds of meters, at best. If detailed information is required at the building scale, an urban-scale model is necessary. Proper definition of the boundary conditions for the urban-scale simulation is very demanding in terms of its compatibility with environmental conditions and numerical modeling. Here, steady-state computational fluid dynamics (CFD) microscale simulations of the wind and thermal environment are performed over an urban area of Kozani, Greece, using both the k-? and k-? SST turbulence models. For the boundary conditions, instead of interpolating vertical profiles from the mesoscale solution, which is obtained with the atmospheric pollution model (TAPM), a novel approach is proposed, relying on previously developed analytic expressions, based on the Monin Obuhkov similarity theory, and one-way coupling with minimal information from mesoscale indices (V y = 10 m, T y = 100 m, L * ). The extra computational cost is negligible compared to direct interpolation from mesoscale data, and the methodology provides design phase flexibility, allowing for the representation of discrete urban-scale atmospheric conditions, as defined by the mesoscale indices. The results compared favorably with the common interpolation practice and with the following measurements obtained for the current study: SODAR for vertical profiles of wind speed and a meteorological temperature profiler for temperature. The significance of including the effects of diverse atmospheric conditions is manifested in the microscale simulations, through significant variations (~30%) in the critical building-related design parameters, such as the surface pressure distributions and local wind patterns.

Keywords: urban microclimate; built environment; computational fluid dynamics; atmospheric boundary layer; boundary conditions (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q Q0 Q4 Q40 Q41 Q42 Q43 Q47 Q48 Q49 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
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