Urban-scale SALSCS, Part I: Experimental Evaluation and Numerical Modeling of a Demonstration Unit

Qingfeng Cao; Thomas H. Kuehn; Lian Shen; Sheng-Chieh Chen; Ningning Zhang; Yu Huang; Junji Cao; David Y.H. Pui

doi:10.4209/aaqr.2018.06.0238

Urban-scale SALSCS, Part I: Experimental Evaluation and Numerical Modeling of a Demonstration Unit

Qingfeng Cao¹, Thomas H. Kuehn¹, Lian Shen¹, Sheng-Chieh Chen², Ningning Zhang³, Yu Huang³, Junji Cao ³, David Y.H. Pui ¹^,4

¹Department of Mechanical Engineering, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, Minnesota 55455, USA
²Department of Mechanical and Nuclear Engineering, Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond, VA 23284, USA
³Key Lab of Aerosol Chemistry & Physics, Institute of Earth Environment, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Xi’an, Shaanxi 710061, China
⁴School of Science and Engineering, Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shenzhen, Guangdong 518172, China

Received: June 28, 2018
Revised: August 26, 2018
Accepted: August 26, 2018
Download Citation: ||https://doi.org/10.4209/aaqr.2018.06.0238

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Cite this article:
Cao, Q., Kuehn, T.H., Shen, L., Chen, S.C., Zhang, N., Huang, Y., Cao, J. and Pui, D.Y. (2018). Urban-scale SALSCS, Part I: Experimental Evaluation and Numerical Modeling of a Demonstration Unit. Aerosol Air Qual. Res. 18: 2865-2878. https://doi.org/10.4209/aaqr.2018.06.0238

HIGHLIGHTS

Urban-scale SALSCS is a device proposed for air pollution remediation in cities.
A demonstration unit with a 60-m high tower was constructed in Xi’an, China.
Experimental measurements and numerical simulations were conducted.
Obtained numerical results agree well with the experimental data.
The comparison between the two provides a validation for the numerical model.

ABSTRACT

A demonstration unit for the Solar-Assisted Large-Scale Cleaning System (SALSCS), with a solar collector 43 × 60 m² in horizontal dimensions and a tower 60 m in height, was built in Xi’an, China, to study its effectiveness in terms of urban air pollution remediation. To simulate an urban-scale SALSCS with dimensions ranging 10–120 m that was proposed for installation on urban blocks, we first performed experimental measurements on the demonstration unit and used the experimental data to validate a numerical model that we developed. This paper presents the field measurements conducted during three days in Jan. 2017 in Xi’an. The experimental and numerical results of the system flow rate and temperature showed good agreement for six of the eight measurement cases, with average discrepancies of 1.63 m³ s^–1 for the flow rate and 0.78°C for the temperature. Larger discrepancies for the other two cases were observed, and the reasons were analyzed. During the measurements, the filtration efficiency of the filter media installed in the north section of the system with regard to PM_2.5 was evaluated to be 73.5%. The validated numerical model was applied to study the performance characteristics of the urban-scale SALSCS, and these results will be presented in Part II.

Keywords: SALSCS demonstration unit; Air pollution remediation; Experimental measurement; Model validation; Solar chimney.