|
St. Isaac's Cathedral in St. Petersburg is considered one of
the most beautiful churches in the world. Designed by French
architect, Auguste de Montferrand and built by Scottish engineer
William Handyside, the church reveals a breathtaking interior
encrusted in gilt bronze, marble and rare stone, stunning mosaics
and columns of pure malachite and lapis. There is a cupola covered
with pure gold and a gold screen separating the inner sanctuary
from the worshipers. Valuable artwork, including gilded icons
encrusted with jewels, adorn the walls.
But historical and artistic significance has not kept the
Cathedral and its contents from slowly crumbling. Nearly two
hundred years of widely oscillating temperatures, leaky windows
and doors, and uncontrolled humidity have taken their toll.
To save this national treasure, the city of St. Petersburg is
planning to develop a HVAC system to halt further deterioration.
In initial phase of the project, the municipality contracted with
St. Petersburg Polytechnic Institute and New Technology and
Services Ltd to develop a computer model of the building to make a
quantitative assessment of the airflow and thermal conditions
within the cathedral. To this end, researchers used Coolit to
construct a CFD model of the entire cathedral, inside and out,
identifying temperature gradients, air movements, and heat losses
under various wind and ambient temperatures.
The developed computer model required over 10 million grid cells
with 12 grid zones to provide sufficient
resolution. The results of the simulation are currently being
analyzed and compared with measurements at key locations. The next
step will be the creation of what-if scenarios to determine the
impact of structural improvements and to weigh various
alternatives for the HVAC system.
|
