Contribution to the Experimental and Numerical Dynamic Study of a Turbulent Jet Issued from Lobed Diffuser

Abstract

In the present work, we are interested to the experimental and numerical study of the free turbulent lobed jet, used in residential heating and air conditioning. The objective of our study is the improvement of the diffusion performance of the ventilation driving air flow, in the occupancy zone. The experiments have been conducted in a room where the dimensions enables a better execution in the conditions of free and hot vertical jet at unfavorable pushing forces. The installation contains a hot air blowing diffuser oriented from top to bottom. The velocities of the flow were measured by a multi-functional thermo-anemometer. The probe is supported by a stem guided vertically and horizontally in order to sweep a maximum space. Experimentally, we measured the axial and radial velocity field. The dynamics field analysis, show that in the potential core region, the dynamic profiles are more spread at the principal plane and this is due to the widening of the lobes’ opening. While, in the transition zone and in the region where the flow is fully developed, these profiles are not influenced by the type of plane and then the jet will be similar to the circular one. Numerically, we used the commercial software Fluent. The obtained numerical results with turbulence method, (RNG k-ε), were in good accordance with the experimental one.

Keywords

• Lobed jet; Experimental study; Ventilation; Numerical simulation; Turbulence model.