On the Mechanism of Air Pollutant Removal in Two-Dimensional Idealized Street Canyons: A Large-Eddy Simulation Approach

Abstract

Flow resistance, ventilation, and pollutant removal for idealized two-dimensional (2D) street canyons of different building-height to street-width (aspect) ratios $$AR$$ are examined using the friction factor $$f$$ , air exchange rate (ACH), and pollutant exchange rate (PCH), respectively, calculated by large-eddy simulation (LES). The flows are basically classified into three characteristic regimes, namely isolated roughness, wake interference, and skimming flow, as functions of the aspect ratios. The LES results are validated by various experimental and numerical datasets available in the literature. The friction factor increases with decreasing aspect ratio and reaches a peak at $$AR = 0.1$$ in the isolated roughness regime and decreases thereafter. As with the friction factor, the ACH increases with decreasing aspect ratio in the wake interference and skimming flow regimes, signifying the improved aged air removal for a wider street canyon. The PCH exhibits a behaviour different from its ACH counterpart in the range of aspect ratios tested. Pollutants are most effectively removed from the street canyon with $$AR = 0.5$$ . However, a minimum of PCH is found nearby at $$AR = 0.3$$ , at which the pollutant removal is sharply weakened. Besides, the ACH and PCH are partitioned into the mean and turbulent components to compare their relative contributions. In line with our earlier Reynolds-averaged Navier–Stokes calculations (Liu et al., Atmos Environ 45:4763–4769, 2011), the current LES shows that the turbulent components contribute more to both ACH and PCH, consistently demonstrating the importance of atmospheric turbulence in the ventilation and pollutant removal for urban areas.