The use of computational method to assess the safety and quality of ventilation in industrial buildings

Industrial buildings, particularly those containing nuclear and process plant, often require high standards of ventilation in order to cope with unusual features of the operations or process which take place within the buildings. Four examples of recent studies carried out by the present authors are given in this paper: storage of coal in a covered stockyard, a chlor-alkali plant, a clean room, and the turbine hall of a nuclear power station. In each of these examples, quite detailed information was required about air flows, temperatures and gas concentrations, and it was decided to use the two-equation k,epsilon model of turbulence to help predict these variables. This is solved with equations for momentum and continuity by finite differences. It is concluded that complex computer programs of this kind can provide valuable assistance in support of the more traditional hand calculations using BS codes and CIBS guides. However, careful engineering judgement must be exercised in the use of the programs and in the interpretation of the results. (author)