• Wind and Structures
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• v.3 no.2
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• pp.73-81
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• 2000

Snowdrifts around buildings can cause serious problems when formed on undesirable places. The formation of snowdrifts is highly connected to the wind pattern around the building, and the wind pattern is again dependent on the building design. The shear stress on the surface and snowdrifting around different buildings are investigated through CFD analysis and compared to measurements. The computations of shear stress shows local minima in the same areas as snowdrifts are formed. The snowdrifting computations utilises a drift-flux model where a fluid with snow properties is allowed to drift through a fluid with air properties. An apparent dynamic viscosity of the snow/air mixture is defined and used as a threshold criterion for snowdrifting. The results from the snowdrifting computations show increased snow density where snowdrifts are expected, and are in agreement with previous large-scale snowdrift measurements. The results show that computational fluid dynamics can be a tool for planning building design in snowdrifting areas.

• Wind and Structures
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• v.23 no.6
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• pp.523-542
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• 2016

Snowdrift formation on roofs should be considered in snowy and windy areas to ensure the safety of buildings. Presently, the prediction of snowdrifts on roofs relies heavily on field measurements, wind tunnel tests and numerical simulations. In this paper, a new snowdrift modeling method by using CFD (Computational Fluid Dynamics) coupled with DEM (Discrete Element Method) is presented, including material parameters and particle size, collision parameters, particle numbers and input modes, boundary conditions of CFD, simulation time and inlet velocity, and coupling calculation process. Not only is the two-way coupling between wind and snow particles which includes the transient changes in snow surface topography, but also the cohesion and collision between snow particles are taken into account. The numerical method is applied to simulate the snowdrift on a typical stepped flat roof. The feasibility of using coupled CFD with DEM to study snowdrift is verified by comparing the simulation results with field measurement results on the snow depth distribution of the lower roof.

• Proceedings of the KSME Conference
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• 2008.11b
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• pp.2256-2261
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• 2008

The electric snow melting and deicing system by electric heating cable which is adopted in this study is a part of road facilities to keep surface temperature of the road higher than freezing point of water for melting the snow or ice accumulated on it. The electric heating cables are buried under paved road at a certain depth and a certain pitch and operated automatically and manually. Design theory, amount of heating, and installation standard vary according to economic situation, weather condition, and installation place. A main purpose of this study is figuring out the appropriate range of required heat capacity and installation depth and pitches for solving snowdrifts and freezing problems with minimum electric power consumption. This study was performed under the ambient air temperature($-2^{\circ}C$, $-5^{\circ}C$), the pitches of the electric heating cables (200 mm, 300 mm), heating value ($250\;W/m^2$, $300\;W/m^2$, $350\;W/m^2$).

• Journal of agriculture & life science
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• v.46 no.2
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• pp.179-190
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• 2012

This study was performed to obtain a heat saving effect and enhance the efficiency of a greenhouse by using a hot water piping in order to minimize the operating costs of a greenhouse as oil prices continue to rise. This method also reduces the likelihood of accidents caused by snowdrifts in regions with heavy snowfall. In general, the experimental plot was $2.0{\sim}6.0^{\circ}C$ higher than the control plot. When the skylight felt was opened, the minimum temperature was in the range of $3.0{\sim}12.0^{\circ}C$. Therefore, we judged that damage caused by snowdrifts may be prevented partly by active heating. The temperature difference inside of the greenhouse by height was insignificant. The maximum heating load of the greenhouse according to crop was respectively about $37,000kcal{\cdot}h^{-1}$ and $41,700kcal{\cdot}h^{-1}$. During the experiment, the heat value of each designed temperature in the range of the minimum ambient temperature $-11.9{\sim}4.0^{\circ}C$ was about 95,000~322,000 kcal and it was in the range of $6,050{\sim}20,900kcal{\cdot}h^{-1}$. If it is compared with the maximum heating load, it can be shown that about 15~56% of the heating energy can be supplied. The total heat value and the amount of power consumption were 2,629,025 kcal and 677.3 kWh respectively during the experiment. If it is heated with diesel, a fossil fuel, the consumption during the experiment was 291 L and the cost was 331,700won. Total cost of using electric power was about 24,400 won and it is shown that it is about 7.5% of the cost of diesel consumption. Also, if the total amount of power consumption is converted into energy, it is approximately 582,200 kcal and the energy was just about 22% of the total heat value.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Fisheries and Ocean Technology
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• v.44 no.4
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• pp.362-369
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• 2008

The snow melting system by electric heating wires which is adopted in this research is a part of road facilities to keep surface temperature of the road higher than freezing point of water for melting the snow accumulated on it. The electric heating wires are buried under paved road at a certain depth and operated automatically and manually. Design theory, amount of heating, and installation standard vary according to economic situation, weather condition, installation place and each country applying the system. A main purpose of this study is figuring out the appropriate range of required heat capacity and installation depth and pitch for solving snowdrifts and freezing problems with minimum electric power consumption. This study was performed under the ambient air temperature($-2^{\circ}C$, $-5^{\circ}C$), the pitches of the electric heating wires(200 mm, 300 mm), heating value($250\;W/m^2$, $300\;W/m^2$, $350\;W/m^2$).

• Journal of Environmental Science International
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• v.21 no.4
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• pp.461-470
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• 2012

Agriculture is more influenced by environmental factors rather than other industries. Among the environmental factors, the meteorological conditions mainly impact the output of agricultural products. Hence, the purpose of this study is to analyze the impact of meteorological factors on the output of elemental agricultural products. As a first step, we obtained the data of the meteorological factors (i.e., precipitation, humidity, temperature, insolation, snowdrifts, wind velocity) and the output of the various agricultural products (i.e., grain, fruits and vegetables, root crops, green vegetables, seasoned vegetables, fruits, special crops) from the year 1990 to 2009 (20 years) of Seoul and the six metropolitan cities in Korea. Then, the analysis of the correlation between the agricultural product with the largest output and the meteorological factors of the place where the corresponding agricultural product is most produced, was carried out in order to determine the core meteorological factor that most impacts the output of agricultural product. The correlation analysis revealed that humidity, insolation and wind velocity have been the crucial meteorological factors to influence the output of the agricultural products. From the result, we can induce that the meteorological forecast information about the vital meteorological factors, i.e., humidity, insolation and wind velocity, facilitates the optimized cultivation plan to maximize the output of agricultural products.

• Journal of Power System Engineering
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• v.10 no.1
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• pp.34-40
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• 2006

The snow melting system by electric heating wires which is adopted in this study is a part of road facilities to keep surface temperature of the road higher than freezing point of water for melting the snow accumulated on it. The system is designed to increase traffic safety and capacity. The electric heating wires are buried under paved road at a certain depth and operated automatically and manually. Design theory, amount of heating, and installation standard vary according to economic situation, weather condition, and installation place where the system applies. It is tried to figure out that the appropriate range of required heat capacity and installation depth and intervals for solving snowdrifts and freezing problems with the minimum electric power consumption. The most important factors to design the system are calculation of heating capacity depending on weather condition and depth and interval of the electric heating wires depending on air condition respectively. The study were performed under the range of the air temperatures($-2^{\circ}C,\;-5^{\circ}C,\;-8^{\circ}C$), the intervals of the electric heating wires(70mm, 100mm, 125mm), and the installation depths(50mm, 70mm, 100mm). The ready made commercial program package was used to verify the experimental results.