Studies undertaken within the Department involve industrial hygiene and safety, and various aspects of small scale atmospheric dynamics. The Department is particularly active in the mathematical modelling of aerosols. Almost every aerosol study begins with a sample being taken in apparatus such as a filter, condenser or ultramicroscope cell. A combination of factors such as the diffusion, interception and inertia of the aerosol, the disturbance to the flow caused by the sampler, and the deposition of particles in the apparatus before they are sampled, results in the concentration and the particle-size distribution in the sample being different from that in the original aerosol. If a correct interpretation of the results is to be achieved, it is essential to be able to predict this difference.
Much research is carried out on modelling fluid flows in fume cupboards.
The prime function of a fume cupboard is to control airborne contaminant particles released or generated within it. Because of the difficulties and expense of performing these experiments, a CFD and modelling approach has been developed. The control of airflow in rooms and buildings is extremely important both for the comfort of the people present and for economical reasons. Most rooms are heated either by enforced jets or by radiator plumes. Hence it is important when considering this problem from a computational view point, to be able to describe fluid flows in jets.