Experimental investigation of scalar dispersion in indoor spaces

• Published in: Building and environment 2024-02, Vol.250, p.111167, Article 111167
• Main Authors: Lim, H.D., Foat, Timothy G., Parker, Simon T., Vanderwel, Christina
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Eddy diffusivity; Indoor air quality; Indoor airflow; Risk assessment; Scalar dispersion
• ISSN: 0360-1323; 1873-684X
• DOI: 10.1016/j.buildenv.2024.111167

The scalar dispersion from point sources in indoor spaces is experimentally investigated using simultaneous particle–image velocimetry and planar laser-induced fluorescence techniques in a 20:1 and a 60:1 full-to-model scale room model. The ventilation inlets dominate turbulence production, with magnitudes of the velocities and Reynolds stresses observed to increase with air changes per hour (ACH). Mean concentration maps show a dependence on the ACH and source location which is attributed to the flow field at the near-source region. The peak-to-mean concentration shows a weak dependence on the mean concentration and concentration variance maps, indicating risk for toxic chemicals may be underpredicted if based only on these information. The concentration PDFs are generally well-described by exponential distributions with C99/crms′ values never exceeding 5.0. The magnitudes of the advective and turbulent scalar fluxes are strongly dependent on the ACH and source location, neither of which are able to dominate the other by more than an order of magnitude. The eddy diffusivity tensor was measured and a conditional-averaging based method is proposed to approximate it to an isotropic eddy diffusion coefficient, K. For real applications where K is used to estimate magnitudes of the turbulent scalar flux using the gradient transport model, the assumption of isotropic turbulence can introduce an uncertainty of around 17.8%. •Full 2D maps of the scalar fluxes and non-diagonal turbulent diffusivity tensor.•Scalar transport mechanism is dependent on the ACH and source locations.•Anisotropic turbulence contributes to turbulent diffusion coefficient uncertainties.•Implications of inconsistent ‘turbulent diffusion coefficient’ terminology.