Simulation Ensures Low CO Levels In Parking Structure
Computer simulation helped ensure low carbon monoxide levels in a new parking structure by making it possible to evaluate the performance of different ventilation system designs without the expense of actually building and testing them.
The main concern in the design was ensuring that carbon monoxide would remain below specified levels even when 125 cars were waiting to exit the garage with their engines running for a long period of time. Engineers evaluated the performance of the ventilation system diffuser with a computational fluid dynamics (CFD) tool that lets the user accurately model airflow, heat transfer, contaminant transport, and thermal comfort for internal as well as external building flows. Five different diffuser configurations were evaluated while the total capacity of the ventilation system was maintained at a constant level. Engineers used the simulation to select the most efficient diffuser configuration, making it possible to build a cost-effective ventilation system that met all performance requirements without any modifications.