Design of a windbreak fence to reduce fugitive dust in open areas

Abstract

The wind characteristics of the Saemangeum reclaimed land are quite different from those of inland because of the prevalence of strong wind environments near the seashore. Thus, the probability of fugitive dust dispersion would be higher under these wind environmental conditions, and civil complaints regarding fugitive dust have increased in the residential area. Therefore, we must establish countermeasures to reduce fugitive dust. In this study, the dispersion behavior of fugitive dust at the Saemangeum reclaimed land was simulated by using a two-dimensional CFD simulation. A CFD model was simulated by considering the wind velocity and the design properties of the windbreak fences, such as their height, installation interval and number of layer. The percent of upstream velocity (PUV) is applied in this study to quantitatively evaluate the reduction in the wind velocity by a windbreak fence. The behavior of saltating dust was analyzed by comparing the simulation results with the threshold wind velocity, which is the wind velocity at which the soil particulates come off the surface and erosion starts. The behavior of suspended dust was analyzed by using the reduction rate of dust concentration according to the installation conditions of the windbreak fence. A strategy for installing windbreak fences was suggested according to these results to reduce fugitive dust in the Saemangeum reclaimed land.