Microclimatic assessment and modelling for salt crystallization control in the Crypt of the Duomo of Lecce (South Italy)

It is known that unsuitable microclimatic conditions can raise the risk of damage in ancient monuments where even small fluctuations can activate deterioration processes, such as soluble salts crystallization. Therefore the importance to monitor the environmental conditions in cultural buildings is widely recognized. Furthermore, in the last decades, many modeling tools have been developed in order to better control the indoors in a preventive way. A microclimatic monitoring was performed over a one year period in the Crypt of the Duomo of Lecce (South Italy) where efflorescence is one of the main decay evidence. The microclimatic data were then used to develop a 3-dimensional computational fluid dynamic (CFD) model to investigate the indoor thermo-hygrometric parameters and determine the most appropriate microclimatic asset. A number of possible microclimatic scenarios, given by ventilation through the windows, were considered. The simulations allowed to establish the most suitable scenario to preserve the building limiting salt crystallization.