A NUMERICAL STUDY OF A HORIZONTAL BUOYANT JET IN CROSS FLOW

Abstract

A submerged buoyant jet discharging normally into a fully developed open channel flow has been numerically studied by using the three dimensional Navier-Stokes equations, the energy equation and the standard k-? turbulence model. The governing equations are discretised into finite difference forms with the hybrid central/upstream scheme. The computational procedure is based on the SIMPLE algorithm, which makes use of a non uniform staggered grid arrangement. The flow patterns and temperatures at different sections are investigated for several flow conditions. The numerical results show that the near field region of the jet outlet is characterized by steep temperature gradients before tapering off, as the far field region is approached, where the temperature gradients are much smaller. The near field region of the jet is analyzed based on the numerical results. Relationships for defining the near field regions are proposed using relevant parameters. The numerical results are in good agreement with the available experimental data.