Optimal placement of sensors for contaminant detection based on detailed 3D CFD simulations

Purpose - Develop a method for the optimal placement of sensors in order to detect the largest number of contaminant release scenarios with the minimum amount of sensors. Design/methodology/approach - The method considers the general sensor placement problem. Assuming a given number of sensors, every release scenario leads to a sensor input. The data recorded from all the possible release scenarios at all possible sensor locations allow the identification of the best or optimal sensor locations. Clearly, if only one sensor is to be placed, it should be at the location that recorded the highest number of releases. This argument can be used recursively by removing from further consideration all releases already recorded by sensors previously placed. Findings - The method developed works well. Examples showing the effect of different wind conditions and release locations demonstrate the effectiveness of the procedure. Practical implications - The method can be used to design sensor systems for cities, subway stations, stadiums, concert halls, high value residential areas, etc. Originality/value - The method is general, and can be used with other physics-based models (puff, mass-conservation, RANS, etc.). The investigation also shows that first-principles CFD models have matured sufficiently to be run in a timely manner on PCs, opening the way to optimization based on detailed physics.