Experimental and numerical evaluation of wind-driven natural ventilation and dust suppression effects of coal sheds with porous gables

Abstract

Owing to the air pollution emission restrictions, coal yards are frequently required to be sheltered by coal sheds. However, for the coal yards to be sheltered by coal sheds, the wind environment in the coal sheds must provide ventilation as well as ensure dust suppression. In this study, the wind-driven natural ventilation and dust suppression effects of coal sheds possessing porous windbreak gables are studied using wind tunnel experiment and computational fluid dynamics (CFD) numerical simulation. The wind velocities of wind-driven natural ventilation and dust coal piles and near the ventilators are obtained by the CFD simulation with re-normalization group (RNG) k-ε model, which are validated by the wind tunnel measurement results. The ventilation rate and the dust suppression rate are estimated for quantifying the ventilation and dust suppression effects of coal sheds with different gables. The results indicate that a windbreak gable or the combination of a porous windbreak and a solid plate can provide both aspects, thus satisfying both production and environmental requirements. This research provides a reference to determine the closure type and the key parameters in the architectural design of coal sheds. The presented framework can also be used for the further optimization and manipulation of the wind environment in relevant industrial buildings.