A method is proposed for the estimation of time-varying emission rates of pollutant sources in a ventilated enclosure, through the resolution of an inverse forced convection problem. Unsteady transport-diffusion of the pollutant is considered, with the assumption of a stationary velocity field remaining unchanged during emission (passive contaminant). The pollutant transport equation is therefore linear with respect to concentration. The source's location is also supposed to be known. As the first step, a reduced model (RM) linking concentrations at a set of control points to emission rates of sources is identified from experimental data by using the modal identification method (MIM). This parameter estimation problem uses transient contaminant concentration measurements made at control points inside the ventilated enclosure, corresponding to increasing and decreasing steps of emission rates. Such experimental modelling allows us to avoid dealing with a CFD code involving turbulence modelling and to get rid of uncertainties about sensors position. In a second step, the identified RM is used to solve an inverse forced convection problem: from contaminant concentration measured at the same control points, rates of sources emitting simultaneously are estimated with a sequential in time algorithm using future time steps.

No abstract

This article focuses on prevention of possible exposure to chemical agents, when opening, entering, and stripping freight containers. The container purging process is investigated using tracer gas measurements and numerical airflow simulations. Three different container ventilation conditions are studied, namely natural, mixed mode, and forced ventilation. The tests conducted allow purging time variations to be quantified in relation to various factors such as container size, degree of filling, or type of load. Natural ventilation performance characteristics prove to be highly variable, depending on environmental conditions. Use of a mechanically supplied or extracted airflow under mixed mode and forced ventilation conditions enables purging to be significantly accelerated. Under mixed mode ventilation, extracting air from the end of the container furthest from the door ensures quicker purging than supplying fresh air to this area. Under forced ventilation, purging rate is proportional to the applied ventilation flow. Moreover, purging rate depends mainly on the location at which air is introduced: the most favourable position being above the container loading level. Many of the results obtained during this study can be generalized to other cases of purging air in a confined space by general ventilation, e.g. the significance of air inlet positioning or the advantage of generating high air velocities to maximize stirring within the volume.

No abstract

No abstract