Air pollution dispersion in Hail city: Climate and urban topography impact

Walid Hassen; Nidhal Hnaien; Lotfi Ben Said; Faris Mohammed Albati; Badreddine Ayadi; Wajdi Rajhi; Lioua Kolsi

doi:10.1016/j.heliyon.2023.e20608

Air pollution dispersion in Hail city: Climate and urban topography impact

Heliyon. 2023 Oct 6;9(10):e20608. doi: 10.1016/j.heliyon.2023.e20608. eCollection 2023 Oct.

Authors

Walid Hassen¹, Nidhal Hnaien², Lotfi Ben Said^{3

4}, Faris Mohammed Albati⁵, Badreddine Ayadi^{3

6}, Wajdi Rajhi^{3

7}, Lioua Kolsi³

Affiliations

¹ Laboratory of Metrology and Energy Systems, Department of Energy Engineering, University of Monastir, Monastir, 5000, Tunisia.
² Department of Energy Engineering, College of Engineering, University of Monastir, Monastir, 5000, Tunisia.
³ Department of Mechanical Engineering, College of Engineering, University of Ha'il, Ha'il City, Saudi Arabia.
⁴ Laboratory of Electrochemistry and Environment (LEE), National Engineering School of Sfax, (ENIS), University of Sfax, Sfax, 3038, Tunisia.
⁵ College of Sharia and Law, University of Ha'il, Ha'il City, Saudi Arabia.
⁶ Laboratory of Applied Fluid Mechanics, Environment and Process Engineering "LR11ES57", National School of Engineers of Sfax (ENIS), University of Sfax, Soukra Road Km 3.5, Sfax, 3038, Tunisia.
⁷ Laboratoire de Mécanique, Matériaux et Procédés LR99ES05, Ecole Nationale Supérieure d'Ingénieurs de Tunis, Université de Tunis, 5 Avenue Taha Hussein, Montfleury, 1008, Tunis, Tunisia.

Abstract

Due to the rapid urbanization of many cities around the world, industrial manufacturing plants have been expanded quickly, leading to the discharge of large amounts of pollutants into the environment. Consequently, a significant deterioration in local air quality is recorded, representing a high health risk for the city's residents. In this context, the main objective of this work is to understand the dispersion of gas pollution in high-density urban environments, specifically the Hail region of Saudi Arabia. The simulations carried out with Ansys Fluent 19.0 were based on actual climatic conditions, with particular attention paid to accurately reproducing the exact topography of the study area. The main results concern the characterization of flow behavior and the dispersion of gas pollutants emitted by power plants. Several factors, including building geometry and wind speed, are examined. The study reveals that for a reference wind speed of more than 7 m/s, gaseous pollution exhibits a significant tendency to accumulate within buildings, resulting in significant concentrations.

Keywords: Air pollution; Climatic conditions; Hail city; Numerical study; Thermal power plants; Urban topography.