Atmospheric Environment 45 (2011) 5247e5253

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Atmospheric Environment
journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/atmosenv

Impact of the installation scenario of porous fences on wind-blown particle

emission in open coal yards
X.C. Cong a, b, *, S.Q. Cao a, Z.L. Chen a, S.T. Peng b, S.L. Yang a
a
Shandong Provincial Key Laboratory of Civil Engineering Disaster Prevention and Mitigation, Shandong University of Science and Technology, Qingdao 266510, China
b
Laboratory of Environmental Protection in Water Transport Engineering, Tianjin Research Institute of Water Transport Engineering, Tianjin 300346, China

a r t i c l e i n f o a b s t r a c t

Article history: As a common solution, porous fences are used to reduce the fugitive particulate emission from store piles
Received 22 January 2011 aggregated in the open storage yards of harbor areas. The dust dispersion has caused heavy ecological
Received in revised form pollution and economic losses. In this paper, taking the open coal yard in Caofeidian Port as an example,
29 June 2011
CFD technology was employed and the flow characteristics over the surfaces of stockpiles were simulated
Accepted 4 July 2011
using the k
3 RNG turbulence closure model. To validate the boundary conditions defined in the
simulation, a field measurement campaign was carried out and the experimental results verified the
Keywords:
predicted ones. A more detailed formulation for dust emission compared to the EPA mode was developed
Porous fence
Numerical simulation
afterward to evaluate dust emissions by the CFD approach. The results confirmed the role of porous
Diffuse dust emissions fences in reducing the dust emissions by comparing the average emission coefficients of four possible
Industrial site installation scenarios proposed from the local wind flow characteristics. It was found that, for variable
wind conditions tested during a whole year, dust emissions reduction was approximately 85% in all
enclosure along the yard, and the value was 55% and 65% respectively when installing two-side and
three-side protection scenarios against the windward of dominant wind direction. This study may
suggest some meaningful implications to understand the shelter effect differences among the installation
scenarios of porous fences from the technical view.
Crown Copyright Ó 2011 Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

1. Introduction is to use porous fences to reduce the wind-blown particle emissions

to the environment (Borges and Viegas, 1988; Dong et al., 2007).
Amounts of materials existing in the harbor areas are usually In China, with the rapid development of port transportation,
stored and piled up on the ground in an open space (Santiago et al., a large amount of bulky materials (e.g. coal and mineral powders)
2007). Exposed to variable winds, those materials (ore and coal) are stored and transported frequently in harbor areas. Thus, it
are subject to erosion and, consequently, to the movement of is necessary to build large storage yards. As an effective and
particles through the ejection, suspension, rolling, creeping as well environmental-friendly approach, porous fences are erected
as rebounding phenomena (Bagnold, 1941). As a result, aeolian around the open yard. However, considering the large extension of
erosion of solid particles occurs and emits large amount of particles the area to be protected and the random behaviors of the wind, this
into the atmospheric environment. The particle emission from technique may sometimes bring unsatisfactory results, associating
aggregate piles not only results in the environmental problems (e.g. with the cost arising from its shelter scenario in particular.
degradation of air quality) and risks to human health, but also leads It is apparent that varied installed scenarios mean different
to a loss of raw materials for industries. In order to solve these investments. How to install the porous fence and yield the optimal
issues, the emissions should be controlled with great efforts. One protection with reasonable cost? How to assess its effectiveness in
applicable methodology of reducing the emission in industrial sites reducing the total particle emission with variable winds? Both of
doubts motivate the effort to examine the aeolian transport
particularly for industrial sites. Therefore, we undertake this study
to investigate the quantitative effect of the constructed fences,
* Corresponding author. Shandong University of Science and Technology, Civil although a number of studies on dust emissions in industrial sites
Engineering and Architecture College, 579 Qianwangang Road Economic &Technical
Development Zone, Qingdao, Shandong Province 266510, China. Tel.: þ86 532
have been conducted (Xuan and Robins, 1994; Badr and Harion,
88032871. 2005, 2007; Lee and Park, 1998, 1999; Park and Lee, 2002).
E-mail address: congxiaochun@126.com (X.C. Cong). Conventionally, this type of study can be executed in atmospheric

1352-2310/$ e see front matter Crown Copyright Ó 2011 Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
doi:10.1016/j.atmosenv.2011.07.005
5248 X.C. Cong et al. / Atmospheric Environment 45 (2011) 5247e5253

boundary layer wind tunnels and field experiments. However, such

approaches are always expensive and time consuming (Li et al.,
2007). So Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) technology, as
a substitutional method, is introduced to conduct model simula-
tion. In this study, firstly, a complete picture of the flow structure
over the stockpiles that are protected by porous fences in Cao-
feidian Port (Hebei Province, China) is displayed using the CFD
method. As the process of wind erosion depends strongly on the
local wind flow characteristics and local terrain geometry, the field-
based measurements are carried out to validate the boundary
conditions of the simulation model. Thus we can learn accurately
the properties of wind close to the aggregate piles surface among
different shelter scenarios. Furthermore, the emissions under
different scenarios are estimated with porous fence protection. The
estimation is based on the emission factor formulations for fugitive
Fig. 1. Porous fence installed in the wind tunnel.
dust emissions proposed by the US EPA (United State Environ-
mental Protection Agency) (EPA, 1988). Then, the average emission
On condition that air dynamical viscosity m is 1.789  10
5
coefficient covering a full range of wind conditions within a whole
kg m
1 s
1, air density r is 1.209 kg m
3 and the porous fence
year is introduced to comprehensively evaluate the shelter effect of
thickness Dm is 1.2  10
3 m, the coefficients a
1 and Cr are
porous fences. Finally, the initial conclusions are drawn among the
determined as 1.787  109 m
2 and 608.33 m
1, respectively.
tested scenarios according to a technical opinion.
2.2. Numerical simulations descriptions
2. Numerical simulations
Many numerical studies have been carried out to assess the flow
2.1. Fence resistance coefficient
field with porous fences (Wilson, 1985; Patton et al., 1998). Santiago
et al. (2007) compare three variants of k
3 (standard, k
3 RNG
The physical effect at the presence of a porous fence inside of the
k
3 and realizable k
3) turbulence closure models using RANS
flow is a pressure drop through it, which creates a momentum sink.
simulations. They focus on the differences of the turbulence
This resistance can be introduced in the momentum equation in
performance based on identical numerical procedures and
terms of viscous and inertial resistance:
parameters. Their conclusion is that RNG and realizable turbulence

 models have better performance than standard model for the large
m 1
porosities (f > 0.35), especially in the far leeward field away from
Dp ¼
u þ Cr $ ru2 Dm (1)
a 2 the fences.
where Dp is the pressure change through porous fence in Because of the good applicability of RANS model, RNG turbu-
k gm
1 s
2, m is air dynamical viscosity in kg m
1 s
1, a
1 is the lence closure schedule is chosen in this study. Numerical calcula-
viscous resistance coefficient in m
2, u is the mean velocity normal tions are implemented and the FLUENT 6.3 (Fluent, 2006) steady
to porous surface in m s
1, Cr is the inertial resistance coefficient three-dimensional segregated solver is employed to simulate
caused by the windbreak in m
1, Dm is porous fence thickness in m. wind flow patterns around the porous fences. We choose second
The term m$u=a is Darcy’s law for porous medium, which order discretization scheme for the numerical solution to increase
calculates the resistance exerted by porous fence due to air the accuracy and reduce numerical diffusion. The QUICK (Quadratic
viscosity (Bird et al., 2002). The term Cr $ru2 =2 in Eq. (1) computes Upwind Interpolation of Convective Kinematics) scheme is used
the inertial loss of the air flowing through the porous fence which and the SIMPLEC (Semi-Implicit Method for Pressure-Linked
varies over the height of the fences (Wang and Takle, 1995; Equation Consistent) algorithm is applied for pressureevelocity
Wilson, 1985). coupling to improve convergence. All residuals are set to 10
5.
In this study, the fence pressure-jump coefficient is needed for
the model simulations. Thus, the wind experiments are conducted 2.3. Geometry, mesh and boundary conditions
in the wind tunnel typed XNJD-1. It is a low-speed open-return
tunnel having a test section of 2.1 m high  2.4 m wide  16.0 m The calculation domain is materialized by a box of variable
long. Available measured speed ranges from1.0 to 45.0 m s
1. dimensions (function of the porous fence’s height h in m) with
A complete description of the wind tunnel and its operating char-
acteristics are given by Cong et al. (2010).
The experimented porous fence is installed in the wind tunnel
(Fig. 1). It is made of stainless-steel plate with 1.2 mm in thickness
and folded with an angle of 140 . The holes are distributed in the
whole plate to make up the porosity of 0.40, as shown in Fig. 2.
Velocity measurements behind the fences are performed by using
Dantec Streamline 90N10 Frame hot wire anemometer. The measure
plan and relative study are presented in Cong and Zhan (2009).
According to Eq. (1), the experimental data is fitted into an
empirical formulate in the expressing form of the pressure drop Dp
against the average velocity u, which is written as:

 
DP ¼
38:363u þ 0:438u2 (2)
Fig. 2. The geometry model of the porous fence (mm).
 X.C. Cong et al. / Atmospheric Environment 45 (2011) 5247e5253 5249

681

125
Porous fence 28 27 26 25 7

24 23 22 21 6

20 19 18 17 5

1390
East

190 6
16 15 14 13 4
wind Reference Row number of
Fig. 3. Schematic representing the calculation domain and the boundary conditions. point 0 points
12 11 10 9 3
identical fences located in the computational volume presented by
8 7 6 5 2
Fig. 3. The geometries and meshes are constructed using the
GAMBIT (2006) and then exported to the Fluent software. An 4 3 2 1 1

125
irregular mesh is selected: the higher resolution tetrahedral hybrid
100 150 150 150
grid with the size of 11.5 m (Dx/h ¼ 0.5, Dy/h ¼ 0.5, Dz/h ¼ 0.5) is 681
applied in the vicinity of the fence; the coarser grid with the size of
4 3 2 1
23 m tetrahedral hybrid cells (Dx/h ¼ 1.0, Dy/h ¼ 1.0, Dz/h ¼ 1.0) is Column number of points
defined for the zone away from the fence. The whole study volume
Fig. 5. Locations of measurement points (m) (the value within every bracket indicates
is meshed into 1739, 2609 and 20 segments in the x, y and z
the point serial number).
directions, respectively, with 1,760,415 cells in total.
The stockpile surface is regarded as the solid wall with the
roughness of 5.0 mm and is meshed with triangular-based prism
where Cm is an empirical constant specified in the turbulence model
cells (Fig. 4(a)). Fig. 4(b) shows that a finer mesh scheme is selected
(0.09), l is the turbulence length scale (l ¼ 0.007h).
near the pile surfaces along the vertical direction. An adaption
The bottom surface of the domain is modeled as no-slip surface
function is applied to the first cells from the pile surface. The
with a specific roughness of z0 (0.3 m). Porous fences are repre-
adaption function consists in refining the mesh in the near wall
sented as a momentum sink (Section 2.1). We adopt symmetry
region by dividing each cell in four equal parts. Four cells are pro-
boundary conditions for the upper and lateral boundaries of the
grammed within 25 cm from the pile surface, which is used for the
domain. This condition is normally used when zero normal velocity
EPA mode. Additionally, a grid sensitivity test is performed to judge
and zero normal gradients of all variables are imposed at the upper
the robustness of the model. The grid resolution for each part of the
boundary. Since the exit flow is close to a fully developed condition,
domain is modified gradually until the difference of the flow
the outflow boundary condition is applied to model the flow exit.
prediction around the fences is within 2%.
The boundaries of the computed domain include the air inlet,
the air outlet, the walls of the computational volume and the 2.4. Numerical Validation
porous fences. The used incoming velocity profile is the logarithmic
law. The mechanism of wind erosion is difficult to understand
because the dispersion mechanism is complicated and depends on
u* z various topographic and meteorological factors. To ensure the
uðzÞ ¼ ln (3)
k z0 validity of the simulations, the field measurements are conducted
from March 24 to March 30, 2009 after the fence construction is
where u(z) is wind velocity at the height of z m in m s
1, u* is
completed. The huge single-layer artificial wind fences are installed
friction velocity in m s
1, z0 is ground roughness length of the
along three sides on the measurement site: both north and south
terrain in m, k is the von Karman constant (0.4).
sides of the yard are 681 m in length, and the east side is 1390 m.
The inlet boundary conditions for the turbulent kinetic energy
Previous studies have found that the fences, which are 1.2e1.5
and its dissipation rate have been obtained from the experimental
times higher than stockpile, have good shelter effect (Zhao, 2007).
study on the assumption of an equilibrium boundary layer (Bitog
Thus, in this industrial site, the fence height is set to 23.0 m, which
et al., 2009; Stunder and Arya, 1988). The specific dissipation rate
is 1.35 times higher than the standard height of coal piles. Out of the
3 profile is calculated from the k experimental values using a rela-
fences, two 15 m high auxiliary buildings used as machine opera-
tion proposed by FLUENT (Fluent, 2006) which reads,
tion rooms are adjacent to the north fence.
In the field campaign, 28 measured locations are positioned at
k1=2
3 ¼ 1=4
(4) a height of 2.0 m from the ground in the shelter zone protected by
cm l the porous fences. The reference point is located upstream outside

Fig. 4. Views mesh used for calculation domains.

5250 X.C. Cong et al. / Atmospheric Environment 45 (2011) 5247e5253

The reduction in wind velocity affected by the fences is demon-

strated evidently by the result that the coefficients of all points are
less than 1.0 except for measured values of 25th and 26th points.
The difference is due to the two buildings near these two points.
Turpin and Harion (2009) show that structures created by the
neighboring buildings can interfere with the stockpiles, and lead to
flow pattern reorganization. The nearby buildings acting as obsta-
cles to the free path of wind can cause the flow streamlines diverge
from the original speed and direction. Thus, the flow dynamics in
the flow field around fences that are adjacent to the buildings are
changed. The 25th and 26th points are subject to the instantaneous
flow acceleration from the lateral side of the nearby buildings.
Vortexes are created around the fences due to the wind fluctuation,
leading to higher measured values than that of airflow outside the
fence. Consequently, the measured reduction coefficients are larger
than 1.0. These results are consistent with those obtained in the
literature on adjacent obstacles (Martinuzzi and Tropea, 1993).
Nevertheless, the simulation is based on the steady flow, in which
Fig. 6. Top view of the velocity contours with porous fences (z ¼ 15 m).
the incoming wind profile remains unchanged with time. As
a consequence, the disturbed flow characteristics cannot be map-
ped accurately. And the predicted reduction coefficients of 25th and
the fences (Fig. 5). A sequential time series of instantaneous 26th points are still smaller than 1.0 despite the impact of nearby
incoming wind velocity is logged by the ZDR-1F automatic buildings (black circle in Fig. 6). Apart from the 25th and 26th
recorders with a 1-s interval and consecutive 50 runs are points, the overall percentage difference between the observed and
conducted. predicted results is http://www.iciba.com/calculated/ calculated as
Considering the random behavior of the wind, the data with the 8.7% and thus validates the simulation model.
smallest wind speed and direction fluctuation available is
employed for calibration. We found that the wind speed ranging
from 4.80 m s
1e5.20 m s
1 and east direction incidents are the 3. EPA emission factor
most stable. Thus, these measured data are chosen to validate the
model. So far, a complete quantitative analysis on the shelter effect of
A CFD calculation is set up representing the real site configu- porous fences has not been performed yet, because wind erosion is
ration (Fig. 6). Then, the predicted points are derived which coin- a very complicated phenomenon that is closely related to local
cide with the location of measurements taken in the field wind flow characteristics over the surfaces of piles. In particular, the
measurement. Then we make a comparison between experimental lift force that ejects dust particles from the coal pile surface is
and modeled flow velocity (Fig. 7). The efficiency in reducing wind relevant with the magnitude of the incoming wind speed and
velocity at a given distance leeward from the fences is used in terms friction velocity near the surface. However, the initial link between
of a dimensionless averaged reduction coefficient (Cornelis and flow processes and particles uplift has been established (Lee et al.,
Gabriels, 2005): 2002) and the erosion conditions are reached when the friction
velocity u* acting over the surface of the pile is larger than the
uiDx threshold friction velocityu*t . Hence, EPA mode (EPA, 1988)
RciDx ¼ 1
(5)
u0 summarized an emission factor EF (gyr
1) for a wind-generated
particulate emission from granular materials subject to the
where Dx is the distance from the fences in m, uiDx is the ith point
disturbance, which is expressed as follows:
1 min averaged wind speed at a downstream distance of Dx away
from the wind fence in m s
1, u0 is the corresponding speed in the XN
absence of wind fences in m s
1. Here, to ensure the synchroniza- EF ¼ m i¼1 Pi Si (6)
tion of measured results, the speed of reference point, taken as the
where m is particle size multiplier in dimensionless, N is number of
unprotected outside the fences, is measured as u0
disturbances per year, Pi is an erosion potential corresponding to
Fig. 7 shows a very similar trend in all measurement points,
the observed (or probable) maximum wind speed during the ith
which strengthens the reliability of the simulation models. Consis-
period between disturbances in gm
2, Si is pile surface area in m2.
tence is also observed between the measured and modeled values.
The erosion potential function Pi for a dry exposed surface is:
 2  
Pi ¼ 58 u*
u*t þ25 u*
u*t for u* >u*t (7)
1.2
Measurement Simulation pi ¼ 0 for u*  u*t
1.0
0.8
where u*t is the threshold friction velocity of materials in m s
1, u* is
friction velocity over the surface of piles in m s
1 given by:
0.6


0.4 us
u* ¼ 0:1uþ
10 (8)
0.2 ur
0.0 where uþ10 is the maximum wind speed measured by an
0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16 18 20 22 24 26 28
anemometer at a reference height of 10 m in m s
1, us is the wind
Measurement point number
speed measured at 25 cm from the pile’s surface in m s
1, ur is the
Fig. 7. Reduction coefficient of wind velocity for each measured locations. wind speed measured at a height of 10 m in m s
1.
 X.C. Cong et al. / Atmospheric Environment 45 (2011) 5247e5253 5251

EPA report provides sub-area distributions of normalized spacing and by 4 piles in column with 5 m spacing. The topography
velocity values us/ur for a flow over two representative pile shapes of each stored pile is a compact trapezoid configuration with the
(cone and flat top oval configurations) and for three flow angles standard height of 17.0 m, corresponding to the capacity of a ship or
(0 , 20 , 40 ). These data are derived from wind tunnel studies. In a train. The top and bottom surfaces of each stored piles are both
this study, coal particles are aggregated compact cubic configura- rectangular with areas of 113  10 m2, 254  51 m2, respectively.
tions in industrial sites, completely different from the EPA standard. Based on the practical operation requirements and local wind
It is not possible to develop experimental measures to evaluate the direction characteristics, four scenarios of porous fences are
exposure level and dust erosion degree for the non-standard pile assumed representing the possible conditions for assessing the
shape. Numerical approach for the normalized velocity value us/ur fence construction (Fig. 8).
that has been studied by Badr and Harion (2005, 2007) is developed It should be noted that the aim of the present work is to evaluate
here to provide detailed data of friction velocity with the fine the effect of porous fences, rather than to predict absolute esti-
spatial resolution. mation of emissions. The impact of nearby buildings on fugitive
In the EPA mode, the aggregate pile surface is divided into sub- emissions under the fence shelter is negligible in this section. The
areas of constant u* to represent the different degrees of wind first reason is that the auxiliary buildings which are adjacent to the
exposure over the pile. And the potential functions of each sub-area porous fences are usually much lower than the fence itself and are
are then treated independently because each sub-area is regarded not prominent in industrial sites. They do not significantly perturb
as a separate source. Then, the emission factor is estimated by the the dynamic flow structure over the stockpiles. Thus, the effect of
sum of local erosion potentials corresponding to the same value of flow reorganization created by turbulent disturbances limits the
friction velocity. Therefore, under the availability of the total vicinity where the obstacles locate. Secondly, the porous fences are
number of the element grid area, as well as detailed friction installed along the dominate wind direction which implies the flow
velocity from numerical simulations, Eq. (6) can be changed as first comes across the stockpiles and the flow field is not strongly
follows: modified by the buildings (Turpin and Harion, 2010).
Xm Xm h  i The simulations are conducted using the CFD approach (Section 2),
EF ¼ m 58 u*
u*t Sij for u* >u*t (9) taking the inflow speed 5.00 m s
1 and east direction as an example.
i¼1 j¼1
Data of normalized velocity value of us/ur are drawn at a normal
where M is the number of the element grid area when the friction distance of 25 cm over the surfaces of piles. Then the friction velocity
velocity u* is greater than the threshold friction velocity u*t ; Sij is the u* over the piles for each scenario is achieved by assuminguþ 10 as
jth element grid area of the erosion corresponding to ith distur- 10 m s
1. In fact, the wind erosion process strongly depends on uþ 10
bance in m2. However, the subject of this study does not quantify the erosion
Eq. (9) provides spatially richer information than results from potential of a pile as a function of the wind speed. Instead, it discusses
published experiments to map the degree of wind exposure over the variation of dust emission for tested fences under identical wind
stockpiles. This allows a more accurate assessment to checking the conditions. Qualitatively, the distribution of friction velocity over
particulate emission for each considered scenario of the porous stockpiles remains similar whatever the wind velocity. Therefore, the
fences, which plays a dominant role in the evaluation of the envi- analysis of flow structure over the piles under the function of porous
ronmental impact. fences has been carried out in this study only when uþ 10 equals
10 m s
1. Meanwhile, a coal material is sampled from the Caofeidian
4. Application Port as a reference to the calculations. Its threshold friction velocity is
determined from a wind tunnel experiment and averages about
The local meteorological observation during the whole year of 0.23 m s
1. Proportionally, it averages 4.4 m s
1 at the 10 m reference
2008 in Caofeidian Port indicates that the predominant wind height (Cong et al., 2010).
direction is SSW and WWS following second with the frequency As expected, the presence of the piles exerts large perturbations
of 10.10% and 8.67%, respectively. The frequency of zero wind on the flow structure of the boundary layer. Among all scenarios,
speed is 2.51%. the simulation predicts the flow deceleration at the base of the
According to the construction program of this coal storage yard, pile, acceleration up the windward slope and toward to the sides,
12 standard storage piles are arranged by 3 piles in row with 10 m followed by a region of flow separation on the crest. The top is

Fig. 8. Scenarios for wind fences (two-side against the windward of the dominant wind direction for the first and three-side for the second, three-side on the leeward of the
dominant wind direction for the third and all enclosure for the fourth).
5252 X.C. Cong et al. / Atmospheric Environment 45 (2011) 5247e5253

Fig. 9. Friction velocities over the surface of aggregated piles.

where the friction velocity is relatively greater than that over the herein, the emission becomes zero when the wind speed is less
leeward slope, which implicates that there is higher erosion than the threshold velocity at the 10 m height (4.4 m s
1), which
potential over the crest than over the slip faces. These flow prop- implies the incurrence of wind erosion.
erties are illustrated by analyzing the friction velocity distribution In industrial sites, the wind is multi-directional in real condi-
in Fig. 9. These predicted results are consistent with the literature tions. Turpin and Harion( 2009) show the evolution of the emission
and published experimental data (Walker and Nickling, 2002; factor of piles is a function of wind incidence angle. Consequently,
Parsons et al., 2004). an average emission coefficient x is proposed based on the whole
The shelter effect of the porous fence on the flow field is year meteorology database. It fully considers the role of local wind
apparent. Without the fences, the friction velocity over the all piles characteristics on dust emissions, and is described as follows:
is larger than the ones with fences, and its maximum and averaged
values are 0.457 m s
1 and 0.329 m s
1, respectively. By contrast, X16 EF
with the porous fences, the average friction velocity over the pro- x ¼ i¼1 EF
fi
 fi (10)
tected piles is decreased to 0.261 m s
1, 0.257 m s
1, 0.273 m s
1 oi

and 0.250 m s
1 for each tested ones, accordingly. where x is average emission coefficient in dimensionless, EFfi and
EPA investigation shows that there is a pronounced influence of EF0i are dust emission factors with and without the porous fences
wind directions on the velocity distribution over the piles, although under the ith wind direction in gyr
1, respectively fi is the ith wind
only three flow incident angles are experimented. Indeed, the used direction frequency according to the whole year meteorology
porous fences exposed to the various wind conditions and flow statistics, i is the wind direction segment within the whole year,
directions can drastically change flow patterns over the piles, hence which amounts to 16 with respect to the wind rose.
affecting emissions. Therefore, in this study, complementary Taking the emissions in the absence of porous fences as
numerical simulations are carried out for other 15 different wind benchmark, the emission coefficient is introduced to judge the
direction segments and their velocity magnitude based on the site decreased magnitude of emissions under the shelter of porous
wind flow characteristics. The results are presented in Table 1, fences. By doing this, we can comprehensively assess the shelter

Table 1
Emissions under the various wind conditions during a whole year (kg).

Serial number Wind direction Wind Velocity (m/s) Wind direction frequency (%) No fence Scenario 1# Scenario 2# Scenario 3# Scenario 4#
1 N 3.7 3.11 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00
2 NNE 3.4 4.54 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00
3 NE 3.4 3.84 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00
4 ENE 4.2 5.4 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00
5 E 5.7 6.01 790.49 651.58 625.57 35.66 13.79
6 EES 5.3 7.15 596.47 540.11 493.16 82.22 30.72
7 ES 5.2 3.97 763.88 610.91 531.43 302.64 165.05
8 SSE 5.1 5.81 1149.41 553.47 499.46 390.22 341.64
9 S 5.0 6.66 1087.14 12.84 1.86 9.36 5.46
10 SSW 5.2 10.1 951.41 385.86 374.00 522.16 338.83
11 WS 4.7 7.52 488.61 160.05 104.02 340.53 77.96
12 WWS 4.6 8.67 373.48 22.68 17.93 297.51 6.52
13 W 3.9 4.33 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00
14 WNW 4.6 6.87 367.81 33.39 17.76 287.34 8.48
15 NW 4.9 7.65 588.69 313.35 172.21 417.79 142.94
16 NNW 4.4 5.86 624.39 649.29 181.25 252.15 185.62
 X.C. Cong et al. / Atmospheric Environment 45 (2011) 5247e5253 5253

effect of the porous fences on dust emission quantification under Acknowledgments

different wind conditions among the tested scenarios. It is obvious
that the closer x to 1, the worse the shelter effect provided by This study is supported by the Nature Scientific Foundation
porous fences, and vice versa. Thus, the coefficient can be used to of P. R. China (NSFC) with the Number 50808115 and Nature
evaluate the effectiveness of fences under various wind conditions. Scientific Foundation of Shandong Province, China with Number
The emission coefficients for the four tested scenarios are 45.66%, 2009ZRB01240.
33.63%, 40.54% and 14.03%, respectively.
As for the shelter effect of fences, the fourth scenario is the most
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