Numerical and experimental analysis of flow and particulate matter dispersion in indoor environment

Reducing indoor particulate matter (PM) concentration is an issue of concern from an environmental point of view as the world's population spend only 4% of their time outdoors. Computational fluid dynamics (CFD) is a fundamental tool for predicting indoor pollutant dispersion and improving knowledge on how indoor and outdoor environments interact in terms of pollutant and momentum exchanges. In this paper, an unsteady CFD simulation has been carried out to investigate the airflow and PM concentration in a classroom of the University of Rome "La Sapienza". Wind velocity and PM concentration acquired during a field campaign conducted within and outside the building of interest have been used as input for the simulation and to test the model performance as well. The results show a reasonable agreement between measured and simulated concentration within the classroom and emphasize the major role played by the micrometeorology in PM concentration. The importance of the boundary conditions at the room openings has been also discussed.