CFD Applications in Environmental Engineering

A special issue of Fluids (ISSN 2311-5521). This special issue belongs to the section "Geophysical and Environmental Fluid Mechanics".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 31 December 2025 | Viewed by 1584

Special Issue Editors


E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
1. Faculty of Sciences in Physics and Mathematics, Autonomous University of Chiapas, Tuxtla Gutiérrez 29050, Mexico
2. National Council of Humanities, Sciences and Technologies, Mexico City 03940, Mexico
Interests: CFD on earth and astrophysical flows; radiative transfer; data analysis and visualization techniques; special interest in multidisciplinary projects

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor Assistant
Faculty of Sciences in Physics and Mathematics, Autonomous University of Chiapas, Tuxtla Gutiérrez 29050, Mexico
Interests: buildings and vehicle design; CFD applications; sports aerodynamics; applied optimization; engineering mathematics

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) is an invaluable tool that has been broadly used to test and predict the behavior of gasses, liquids, plasmas, soils, and fluid–structure interactions dealing with the sustainability and resilience of natural ecosystems and urban environments. Challenges related to air pollution, renewable energy, climate change, and water quality are among the most frequently addressed, and they define the core of this Special Issue. Due to the growing interest in predicting the performance of devices that could be used in future missions, we welcome papers addressing those challenges not only on Earth but also in extraterrestrial environments.

The scope of this Special Issue includes, but is not limited to, the following topics:

  • Pollution dispersion and mitigation;
  • Supersonic flows in combustion and detonation;
  • Wave and wind energy generation;
  • Inshore and offshore winds;
  • Weather forecasting;
  • Aerodynamic design of vehicles;
  • Percolation and filtering of water;
  • CFD in extraterrestrial environments (atmospheres and seas);
  • Grid based vs SPH simulations.

Dr. Filiberto Hueyotl-Zahuantitla
Guest Editor

Dr. Mario Aguirre López
Guest Editor Assistant

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Fluids is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 1800 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • CFD applications
  • air pollution
  • water quality
  • eco-friendly designs
  • climate change
  • extraterrestrial environments
  • environmental modeling

Benefits of Publishing in a Special Issue

  • Ease of navigation: Grouping papers by topic helps scholars navigate broad scope journals more efficiently.
  • Greater discoverability: Special Issues support the reach and impact of scientific research. Articles in Special Issues are more discoverable and cited more frequently.
  • Expansion of research network: Special Issues facilitate connections among authors, fostering scientific collaborations.
  • External promotion: Articles in Special Issues are often promoted through the journal's social media, increasing their visibility.
  • e-Book format: Special Issues with more than 10 articles can be published as dedicated e-books, ensuring wide and rapid dissemination.

Further information on MDPI's Special Issue policies can be found here.

Published Papers (2 papers)

Order results
Result details
Select all
Export citation of selected articles as:

Research

17 pages, 4269 KiB  
Article
Optimising Air Change Rates: A CFD Study on Mitigating Pathogen Transmission in Aircraft Cabins
by Jaydon Benn and Lin Tian
Fluids 2025, 10(3), 74; https://doi.org/10.3390/fluids10030074 - 20 Mar 2025
Viewed by 250
Abstract
Amid the COVID-19 pandemic, understanding airborne pathogen transmission within confined spaces became critically important. The release of infectious aerosols through activities such as breathing, speaking, and coughing poses significant health risks, especially in confined spaces like airplane cabins. This study addresses gaps in [...] Read more.
Amid the COVID-19 pandemic, understanding airborne pathogen transmission within confined spaces became critically important. The release of infectious aerosols through activities such as breathing, speaking, and coughing poses significant health risks, especially in confined spaces like airplane cabins. This study addresses gaps in the research by evaluating the impact of air changes per hour (ACH) on pathogen transmission in an aircraft cabin using computational fluid dynamics (CFD) simulations. A detailed computer-aided design (CAD) model representing half of a four-row section of a Boeing 737 cabin was developed, utilising symmetry boundary conditions to optimise the computational resources while maintaining accuracy. Using ANSYS Fluent 2024, four scenarios were simulated at ACH rates of 15, 20, 25, and 30, with 4 µm pathogens injected into the cabin from a single infector. Airflow patterns and pathogen residence times were analysed for each case. The results indicate that ACH 15 presents the highest risk of pathogen transmission, while increasing the ACH to 20 significantly reduces this risk, with diminishing returns observed beyond ACH 20. Thus, this study underscores the importance of balancing ventilation efficiency, energy consumption, and passenger comfort. The findings provide valuable insights into optimising the ventilation systems to mitigate the airborne transmission in aircraft cabins. Future research should explore higher ACH rates, validate their impact, and conduct a comprehensive optimisation study to further improve the infection control measures. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue CFD Applications in Environmental Engineering)
Show Figures

Figure 1

15 pages, 74958 KiB  
Article
Hybridization of a Micro-Scale Savonius Rotor Using a Helical Darrieus Rotor
by Martin Moreno, Iván Trejo-Zúñiga, Jesús Terrazas, Arturo Díaz-Ponce and Andrés Pérez-Terrazo
Fluids 2025, 10(3), 63; https://doi.org/10.3390/fluids10030063 - 6 Mar 2025
Viewed by 563
Abstract
This study presents a micro-scale hybrid wind turbine that integrates a Savonius rotor with a Helical Darrieus rotor, aiming to enhance energy conversion efficiency and adaptability for decentralized renewable energy generation. The hybrid design leverages the high torque generation of the Savonius rotor [...] Read more.
This study presents a micro-scale hybrid wind turbine that integrates a Savonius rotor with a Helical Darrieus rotor, aiming to enhance energy conversion efficiency and adaptability for decentralized renewable energy generation. The hybrid design leverages the high torque generation of the Savonius rotor and the aerodynamic efficiency of the Helical Darrieus rotor. Computational analyses using CFD simulations and experimental validation with a 3D-printed prototype in a closed wind tunnel were conducted at speeds ranging from 3 to 8 m/s. The results demonstrate that the hybrid turbine achieves a power coefficient of 0.26 at an optimal tip-speed ratio of 2.7, marking a 180% improvement over standalone Savonius rotors. The hybridization process mitigates the low-speed inefficiencies of the Savonius rotor. It compensates for the high-speed limitations of the Darrieus rotor, resulting in a turbine capable of operating efficiently over a wider range of wind speeds. This balanced integration maximizes energy harvesting and improves adaptability to varying wind conditions, achieving balanced and synergistic performance. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue CFD Applications in Environmental Engineering)
Show Figures

Figure 1

Back to TopTop