A CFD SIMULATION OF PM1 AND CO AIR CONTAMINANTS IN A BUS PASSENGER COMPARTMENT

Abstract

Air distribution systems inside a bus compartment are important for providing healthy and comfortable environment for passengers. Lack of ventilation inside the bus passenger compartment causes an increase level of air contaminants concentration. Particulate matters and carbon monoxide are indoor air contaminants which can affect the passenger’s health such as respiratory problem and lung cancer. This article reports the results of a CFD simulation on transport of carbon monoxide and particulate matter 1 inside a passenger compartment of a university’s shuttle bus. Fluent CFD software was used to develop a simplified three-dimensional model of the bus passenger compartment. Flow analysis was carried out using RNG k-e turbulent model for air flow, discrete phase and species transport for the air contaminants. Four variations of ventilation system namely two mixing ventilation types, combined mixing with displacement ventilation and combined mixing ventilation with underfloor air distribution was examined. The CFD simulation results show that the use of the combined mixing and displacement ventilation and also the combined mixing and underfloor ventilation types are capable of reducing the concentration of carbon monoxide and particulate matter 1 inside the bus passenger compartment by 81% and 54%, respectively.