Experimental and Numerical Analysis of CO Concentration Dispersion of Vehicular Exhaust Emissions in Isolated Environment

Abstract

Numerical and experimental analyses were applied to carbon monoxide (CO) concentration dispersion to monitor air quality in an enclosed residential complex parking area in Tehran. Firstly, the parking area was preliminary assessed through verifying the characteristics of the problem including the geometry and boundary conditions. Then, proportion of vehicular exhaust emissions was estimated and eventually experimental and numerical analyses were performed. In order to perform numerical calculation, a three-dimensional model was created to numerically simulate the enclosed residential complex parking area by FLUENT software that solves flow governing equations with finite volume method. In FLUENT, species model was selected to assess the dispersion of CO in flow domain. In experimental analysis, CO concentration was measured using sampling bags with a volume of 10 l in 4 min at 6 different points. The sample air was drawn into sampling bags by electric pumps. The findings show that the maximum amount of CO concentration is above the permissible standard recommended by the World Health Organization. Pollutant accumulation was significant in confined areas. In the place where openings exist, the level of accumulation was lower than other areas. The findings obtained from numerical simulation are in complete accord with experimental results.