Scalar Flux Components Research Articles

Scalar Fluxes Near a Tall Building in an Aligned Array of Rectangular Buildings

Scalar dispersion from ground-level sources in arrays of buildings is investigated using wind-tunnel measurements and large-eddy simulation (LES). An array of uniform-height buildings of equal dimensions and an array with an additional single tall building (wind tunnel) or a periodically repeated tall building (LES) are considered. The buildings in the array are aligned and form long streets. The sensitivity of the dispersion pattern to small changes in wind direction is demonstrated. Vertical scalar fluxes are decomposed into the advective and turbulent parts and the influences of wind direction and of the presence of the tall building on the scalar flux components are evaluated. In the uniform-height array turbulent scalar fluxes are dominant, whereas the tall building produces an increase of the magnitude of advective scalar fluxes that yields the largest component. The presence of the tall building causes either an increase or a decrease to the total vertical scalar flux depending on the position of the source with respect to the tall building. The results of the simulations can be used to develop parametrizations for street-canyon dispersion models and enhance their capabilities in areas with tall buildings.

Assessment of the performances of sub-grid scalar flux models for premixed flames with different global Lewis numbers: A Direct Numerical Simulation analysis

The statistical behaviours of sub-grid flux of reaction progress variable has been assessed for premixed turbulent flames with global Lewis number Le (=thermal diffusivity/mass diffusivity) ranging from 0.34 to 1.2 using a Direct Numerical Simulation (DNS) database of freely propagating statistically planar flames. It is known that the sub-grid scalar flux shows counter-gradient transport when the velocity jump across the flame due to heat release overcomes the effects of turbulent velocity fluctuation. The results show that the sub-grid scalar flux components exhibit counter-gradient transport for all cases considered here. The extent of counter-gradient transport increases with increasing filter width Δ and decreasing value of Le. This is due to the fact that flames with Le≪1 (e.g. Le=0.34) exhibit thermo-diffusive instabilities, which in turn increases the extent of counter-gradient transport. The effects of heat release and flame normal acceleration weaken with increasing Le. Several established algebraic models have been assessed in comparison to the sub-grid scalar flux components extracted from explicitly filtered DNS data in terms of their correlation coefficients at the vector level and their mean variation conditional on the Favre-filtered progress variable. The gradient transport closure does neither capture the quantitative nor the qualitative behaviour of the different sub-grid scalar flux components for all filter widths in all cases considered here. Models which account for local flame normal acceleration perform better, especially when the flame remains completely unresolved. In particular those models that account for the alignment of local resolved velocity and scalar gradients by using a tensor diffusivity, perform relatively better than the other alternative models irrespective of Le.

Numerical analysis and modeling of plume meandering in passive scalar dispersion downstream of a wall-mounted cube

A DNS database is employed to examine the onset of plume meandering downstream of a wall-mounted cube and to address the impact of large-scale unsteadiness in modeling dispersion using the RANS equations. The cube is immersed in a uniform stream where the thin boundary-layer developing over the flat plate is responsible for the onset of vortex-shedding in the wake of the bluff-body. Spectra of velocity and concentration fluctuations exhibit a prominent peak in the energy content at the same frequency, showing that the plume meandering is established by the action of the vortex-shedding. The vortex-shedding and plume meandering display a low-frequency modulation where coherent fluctuations are suppressed at times with a quasi-regular period. The onset of the low-frequency modulation is indicated by a secondary peak in the energy spectrum and confirmed by the autocorrelation of velocity and scalar fluctuations. Unsteady RANS simulations performed with the v2−f model are able to detect the onset of the plume meandering and show remarkable improvement of the predicted decay rate and rate of spread of the scalar plume when compared to steady RANS solutions. By computing explicitly the periodic component of velocity and scalar fluctuations, the unsteady v2−f model is able to provide a representation of scalar flux components consistent with DNS statistics, where the counter-gradient transport mechanism that takes place in the streamwise component is also captured by URANS results. Nonetheless, the agreement with DNS statistics for the mean concentration and the plume width is limited by the onset of the low-frequency modulation in the vortex-shedding and plume meandering, giving a challenging modeling issue in the simulation of dispersion using the RANS equations.

A family of explicit algebraic models for Reynolds stresses and passive scalar fluxes

A family of explicit algebraic models for Reynolds stresses and passive scalar fluxes is proposed and a few variants are discussed, according to the selected set of model constants. Validation is attempted against direct numerical simulation in a steady closed-channel flow for two values of the Reynolds number, indicating the ability of the model to reasonably predict the anisotropy tensor and the scalar flux components when considering wall functions to account for near-wall effects. The production of turbulent kinetic energy is well predicted, while the neutral turbulent Prandtl number has values in agreement with the literature. The proposed model is then compared with an experiment on a heated cylinder with slight temperature variations, with satisfactory results. The proposed model can be applied to various 2D simply-sheared flows involving a passive scalar, i.e. if stratification effects are negligible.

A numerical study of scalar dispersion downstream of a wall-mounted cube using direct simulations and algebraic flux models

The dispersion of a passive scalar downstream of a wall-mounted cube is examined using direct numerical simulations and turbulence models applied to the Reynolds equations. The scalar is released from a circular source located on top of the obstacle, which is immersed in a developing boundary-layer flow. Direct simulations are performed to give insight into the mixing process and to provide a reference database for turbulence closures. Algebraic flux models are evaluated against the standard eddy-diffusivity representation. Coherent structures periodically released from the cube top are responsible for a counter-diffusion mechanism appearing in the streamwise scalar flux. Alternating vortex pairs form from the lateral edges of the cube, but the intensity profiles and probability density functions of scalar fluctuations suggest that they do not cause a significant flapping movement of the scalar plume. The gradient-transport scheme is consistent with the vertical and spanwise scalar flux components. From the comparative study with our direct simulations, we further stress that Reynolds stress predictions must be carefully evaluated along with scalar flux closures in order to establish the reliability of Reynolds-averaged computations. However, the analysis also shows that algebraic closures provide a significant improvement which cannot be achieved with the standard eddy-diffusivity model.

Scalar transport in a quasi two-dimensional turbulent wake interacting with a boundary layer

An experimental study of heat transport in the interaction region between the wake of a cylinder and a turbulent boundary layer is presented in this work. The cylinder was placed parallel to a flat plate and normal to the flow. Its position was selected above the boundary layer edge, so that the lower part of the wake was interacting with the boundary layer. Heat was supplied to the boundary layer flow by means of a line heat source. Presence of surface roughness on the cylinder resulted in the deviation of the velocity power spectrum scaling region from the −5/3 power law which is characteristic of three-dimensional turbulence. Point measurements of the instantaneous values of two velocity components and temperature have been taken using hot-wire anemometry. Two turbulent scalar flux components and a Reynolds shear stress component have been obtained directly from the experimental data. Results were assessed in conjunction with the periodic coherent structures in the wake (a von Kármán vortex street) using a phase-averaging technique that provided a clear picture of the heat transport procedures involved.

Calculations of the effect of tangential eddy diffusivity on a non-symmetric turbulent diffusion in a plain tube

The dispersion of a passive scalar downstream of a wall-mounted cube is examined using direct numerical simulations and turbulence models applied to the Reynolds equations. The scalar is released from a circular source located on top of the obstacle, which is immersed in a developing boundary-layer flow. Direct simulations are performed to give insight into the mixing process and to provide a reference database for turbulence closures. Algebraic flux models are evaluated against the standard eddy-diffusivity representation. Coherent structures periodically released from the cube top are responsible for a counter-diffusion mechanism appearing in the streamwise scalar flux. Alternating vortex pairs form from the lateral edges of the cube, but the intensity profiles and probability density functions of scalar fluctuations suggest that they do not cause a significant flapping movement of the scalar plume. The gradient-transport scheme is consistent with the vertical and spanwise scalar flux components. From the comparative study with our direct simulations, we further stress that Reynolds stress predictions must be carefully evaluated along with scalar flux closures in order to establish the reliability of Reynolds-averaged computations. However, the analysis also shows that algebraic closures provide a significant improvement which cannot be achieved with the standard eddy-diffusivity model.