Two-Dimensional Surface Warm Jets

The dispersion of heat resulting from the horizontal discharge of a two-dimensional warm jet at the surface into a quiescent cooler ambient is investigated. The effects of source momentum, source buoyancy, entrainment, and interfacial shear are included. The case of an infinite ambient fluid is examined and it is found that the surface heat exchange mechanism can replace the necessary downstream conditions. In the event no surface exchange occurs, such as in the case where the buoyancy is induced by salinity variations, then no steady-state solution can be expected unless the interfacial shear is ignored. For given conditions, there exist two critical values, K_cr+ and K_cr- for the surface heat exchange coefficient K such that if the actual value of K is larger than K_cr+, the flow field is of jet type; for K < K_cr-, the source is inundated, while for K_cr- < K < K_cr+, the flow field consists of a jet type region near the source, followed by an internal hydraulic jump and a region resembling two-layered stratified flow. This finding is of importance for design considerations.