Modeling particle distribution in a ventilated room with modified discrete random walk methods

Abstract

The airflow and micro-particle dispersion in a 3-D ventilated scaled room has been simulated numerically. The flow field was studied by the Eulerian method using a Reynolds Averaged Navier-Stokes model, and we used the Lagrangian approach to solve the equations of particle motion. The purpose is to evaluate and compare various discrete random walk methods (DRW) and continuous random walk methods (CRW) to evaluate particle concentration distribution in indoor environments. The isotropic DRW method’s performance has been compared with models in which anisotropy of turbulence is applied, including CRW and modified DRW models based on near-wall direct numerical simulation results, near-wall kinetic energy, and the helicity of the flow. The results reveal that the isotropic DRW method can predict particle concentration in the indoor environment, and using a modified DRW model is not necessary.