Recently, a paper entitled Experimental and numerical investigations of heavy gas leakage in long and narrow spaces by the "Underground Space Environmental Control" National Huang Danian-Type TeacherTeam of Chinese Higher Education Institutions, from XAUAT's School of Building Services Science and Engineering, has been awarded the 2025 Best Paper Award by the international journal Building and Environment. The first author of the paper is Mr. Ma Yuanqing, a PhD candidate from the team; the corresponding author is Professor Li Angui, the principal investigator (PI) of the team. Co-authors include Associate Professor Zhang Ying, Associate Professor Yang Changqing, Dr. Wu Dingmeng, and other collaborators.

The Building and Environment Best Paper Award was established in 2007 to recognize outstanding research achievements with strong originality, significant academic contributions, high-quality presentation, and rigorous scientific methodology. The award has a strict selection process, which includes peer reviewer recommendations, editorial board screening, full review by the journal's Editorial Advisory Board, and final adjudication by an international expert jury. Out of approximately 10,000 submissions received by the journal in 2025, only 5 papers were selected for this prestigious award.

This research addresses the critical safety challenge posed by frequent asphyxiation accidents caused by heavy gas (high-density gas) leaks in underground and confined spaces. Focusing on long and narrow spaces such as tunnels and underground caverns, the study adopts high-speed schlieren imaging experiments and Large Eddy Simulation (LES) technology to systematically investigate the mechanisms of diffusion, stratification, and entrainment after heavy gas leakage. The research innovatively identifies two typical flow regimes: "fountain flow" and "umbrella-shaped (parachute-shaped) flow", and analyzes the spatial distribution patterns of velocity and density of heavy gas under the corresponding flow regimes. It also establishes calculation methods for the volume flux, momentum flux, and buoyancy flux of heavy gas, and reveals the underlying influence mechanism of the cross-sectional aspect ratio on flow characteristic parameters.

The research findings deepen the understanding of heavy gas leakage and diffusion behavior in long and narrow spaces, and provide critical theoretical support for risk assessment of heavy gas leakage accidents and the design of high-efficiency ventilation and exhaust systems.

Figure Captions

1. High-speed schlieren imaging experimental platform and image processing technology

2. Flow regime characteristics and characteristic parameters of heavy gas flow

Full-text Link:

//doi.org/10.1016/j.buildenv.2025.113820

Link to 2025 Building and Environment Best Paper Award:

//www.sciencedirect.com/journal/building-and-environment/about/awards/best-paper-awards-for-2025