Chimney Height, a Determining Factor in the Dispersion of Pollutants and Their Concentration

Abstract

This work proposes a way of modelling two-dimensional complex meshes using elliptic equations, which the computational grid coincides with the problem geometry, making computational processing more suitable. A multiblock technique was used in order to achieve a better representation of the problem domain. In this way, numerical simulations of the movement and dispersion of pollutant emissions in the atmosphere are presented in the generated domains, using the Navier-Stokes pollutant transport equations. The curvilinear coordinates and the finite difference method are used for the discretization. The model was verified in two tests. In the first test, three cases were proposed, with geometries containing a chimney followed by an obstacle, using different chimney heights, and the obstacle height was fixed. The test aims to verify the vortices appearance, in the blocks, to obtain agreement with as presented in the literature. In the second test, the geometry is described by a chimney and an obstacle that represents one of the mountains in the valley. The performed tests made possible to verify that the height of the chimney can be considered a determining factor to describe the dispersion of pollutants, as well as their concentration in the proximity of industrial areas.