CFD modelling of velocity fields around a fume cupboard: Evaluating static and dynamic meshes with experimental measurements

This paper presents a comparison of experimental and numerical modelling results of the velocity field around a fume cupboard with a static and a dynamic mesh. During fume cupboard testing, components are required to move which mimic typical operating conditions, the amount of tracer gas released is then measured. This tracer gas is harmful to the environment and so an alternative is required. Advanced Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) techniques, such as dynamic meshing, have been utilised to replicate aspects of the current tests. The fume cupboard was tested in normal operating conditions and under the influence of a board inducing a wake close to the fume cupboard entrance. The velocity fields have been compared and show a reasonable level of accuracy with a percentage difference between experimental and simulated results of around 5% using both a static and a dynamic domain. This is an improvement on the 15–20% accuracy for detecting concentration of tracer gas using previous experimental methods. The aim of this work is to satisfy the scientific community and fume cupboard operators that CFD is sufficiently accurate to assess fume cupboard performance under real world scenarios.