Verification of the shelter effect of a windbreak on coal piles in the POSCO open storage yards at the Kwang-Yang works

Abstract

The use of windbreaks to reduce wind-blown coal dust at the POSCO Kwang-Yang open storage yards was studied using wind simulations on a scale model of the yards. Based on these simulation results, a full-scale wind fence was constructed on two sides of the yard. Here, we present results on the wind behavior both for the real yard and for the simulation results that guided its construction. Wind-tunnel simulations were used to study the effect of a porous wind fence of porosity ε=30% on the surface pressure and shear stress on coal piles using a 1/1200 model of the POSCO Kwang-Yang open storage yards. In addition, the shelter effects found in the model system were verified in field measurements on the full-scale system. The storage yard model was fully embedded in an atmospheric surface boundary layer over open terrain. The fence and coal pile model had the same height (12.2 mm) and Reynolds number ( Re=1.6×10 4, based on the model height). The mean and fluctuating surface-pressure distributions on the coal piles, which are closely related to the dust emission from the surface, were measured for several directions of the oncoming wind. The wind directions pertinent to the study were determined by statistical analysis of seasonal wind data over the storage yard. A porous wind fence of porosity ε=30% was found to be useful for reducing the wind speed without the formation of a recirculating bubble behind the fence. In addition, the fence caught the wind-borne particles when it was located behind the coal piles. The wind fence reduced the pressure fluctuations and surface shear stress on the coal piles to less than half of the levels observed in the no fence case. To verify the effectiveness of the porous wind fence installed around the Kwang-Yang open storage yard, the local wind speed and the concentration of suspended particles were measured directly. Full-scale porous fences installed around the Kwang-Yang open storage yard greatly decreased the turbulence intensity of the wind over the coal piles and reduced the total suspension particles by 70–80%.