Numerical Simulation of Wind Effect Over Industrial Chimneys in Cet West Bucharest

The distribution of wind speed in the Atmospheric Boundary Layer - ABL has an essential role in the structural design and modeling of chimneys in thermal power plants. As a case study, the recently rehabilitated West Thermal Power Plant in Bucharest was selected. For the numerical modeling of the wind effect, a database was developed with the atmospheric parameters monitored for more than two years, in the selected area. The known pressure coefficients - Cp for a chimney are only valid for some conventional forms. In the present paper for the numerical modeling of the Cp coefficient and of the wind velocity coefficient, the real surface of the chimney was analyzed, considering also its roughness. A significant effect of the pressure distribution, known as the suction effect, was observed. The vertical distribution of the horizontal component of wind speed is strongly influenced by the presence of nearby buildings. They act as a roughness effect by producing air turbulence, separating the flow and inducing the “wake effect”. This phenomenon produces a variation of the average parameters of wind speed and turbulence, depending on the height and distribution of the buildings. For a proper modeling, some details are mentioned regarding the characteristics and dimensions of the analyzed chimney, associated with the land surface and its topography, with the wind speed and the structure of the chimney. Next, some criteria for modeling and selecting the geometric scale are mentioned, followed by some details on the meshing solution for the CFD modeling. A fine mesh is preferred for the inner and outer surface of the chimney in the bottom area, around the chimney, with a quality of about 0.75 for each model tested. The quality of the element is determined with a determinant of the Jacobian matrix, as a measure of the distortion of the shape of the elements. The inlet profile of dissipation rate ε produced by the turbulence was considered from the approximation of Richards and Hoxey. Knowing the wind velocity distribution and the coefficient of force exerted on the chimney, the acting force of the wind is determined. Some results obtained by numerical modeling are mentioned in the last part of the paper on wind velocity distribution, pressure values and force distribution, as altitude functions. The obtained results are in agreement with the experimental data, the highest difference being of approximately 3.43 %, in the top of the chimney, depending on the margin of the discretization field.