Numerical Investigation on the Urban Heat Island Effect by Using a Porous Media Model

Abstract

The urban heat island (UHI) effect resulted from urbanization as well as industrialization has become a major environmental problem. UHI effect aggravates global warming and endangers human health. Thus, mitigating the UHI effect has become a primary task to address these challenges. This paper verifies the feasibility of a three-dimensional turbulent porous media model. Using this model, the authors simulate the urban canopy wind-heat environment. The temperature and flow field over a city with a concentric circular structure are presented. The impact of three factors (i.e., anthropogenic heat, ambient crosswind speed, and porosity in the central area) on turbulent flow and heat transfer in the central business district of a simplified city model with a concentric circular structure were analyzed. It is found that the three-dimensional turbulent porous media model is suitable for estimating the UHI effect. The UHI effect could be mitigated by reducing the artificial heat and improving the porosity of the central city area.

Keywords

• porous media
• heat island effect
• wind field
• CFD simulation