Dispersion Characteristics of Hazardous Gas and Exposure Risk Assessment in a Multiroom Building Environment

The leakage of hazardous chemicals during storage and transport processes is a kind of commonly occurring accident that can pose a serious threat to people’s lives and property. This paper aims to investigate the airflow and dispersion characteristics of hazardous gas around a multiroom building, and evaluate the corresponding exposure risks. The effects on indoor air quality (IAQ) when polluted air enters a room under different indoor and external conditions were examined by using a computational fluid dynamics technique. First, the numerical model established herein was verified by the available wind-tunnel experimental data, and acceptable agreement was found between the predicted and measured velocities. Subsequently, the effects of different natural ventilation paths, wall porosities and outdoor pollutant source characteristics on the airflow and contaminant distribution were evaluated. The study not only reveals the airflow pattern and concentration distribution in indoor spaces under different natural ventilation conditions but also quantitatively analyzes the relationship between the probability of death and the corresponding source strength under the circumstance of pollutant leakage near a building. The results can be useful for the prevention and control of hazardous chemical gas leakages and provide some guidance on evacuation after an accidental or routine leakage.