CFD evaluation of natural ventilation strategies in a large semi-enclosed stadium in an urban environment

Apart from sports events, new large sports stadia are also increasingly used for concerts, conferences and other festivities. An example of such a modern multifunctional stadium is the Amsterdam ‘ArenA’ in the Netherlands. This stadium is equipped with a roof construction that can be opened and closed depending on the weather conditions and the type of event. It is not equipped with HVAC systems to control the conditions of the very large air volume (106 m³). Indoor air quality problems can occur for the configuration with closed roof because of the large number of spectators and insufficient natural ventilation. During the concert period in summer, overheating is an additional problem. This paper presents the results of full-scale measurements and CFD simulations of wind speed and air exchange rate in the above mentioned stadium. CFD simulations are presented which analyse the current air exchange rate and the air exchange rates of several alternative ventilation configurations. CFD was preferred for this study for the detailed simulation of air flow through the relatively small ventilation openings, the discharge coefficients of which are unknown. A particular innovative feature of this study is the combined simulation of outdoor wind flow and indoor air flow.