Mean Behavior of Buoyant Jets in a Crossflow

A general theory to predict time-average trajectories and dilutions for turbulent buoyant jets in a crossflow is presented. The flow is analyzed by presenting simplified descriptions of the jet behavior combined with dimensional analysis. Assumptions for the entrainment of ambient fluid are not required. Four different flow regimes are proposed and a general buoyant jet is composed of several of these depending upon the relative magnitude of the various jet and ambient flow variables. The predictions of the proposed model are compared to results presented by other authors. Experiments were performed to verify the model for each flow regime. Data on both trajectories and dilutions are presented. The experimental results are in agreement with the theoretical predictions for each flow regime.