Experimental study on contaminant entrainment in air distribution systems with free jets

This is a preliminary study to an ongoing experimental and theoretical study of ambient entrainment of room air into axisymmetric free jets. The study herein aims to understanding characteristic behaviour of free jets, especially in low mixing ventilation technologies in order to get the best of such applications. In this paper, we explore the interaction of a free jet and its ambient, the effect on jet development, characteristics and behaviour at different Reynold numbers. Measurements were done with Particle Image Velocimetry (PIV) under isothermal conditions. As shown, at lower Reynolds numbers the jet is mostly laminar but is unstable consequently shortening the penetration distance into the ambient. As the Reynolds numbers increase the instability reduces and the penetration distance increases, but entrainment increases as vortices are generated closer to the nozzle exit. The current study suggests that’s further investigation is needed to define limits within which low and high mixing can be achieved with free jets, as this will have practical implications on optimization and implementation of free jets.Digital conference proceedings distributed to participants on USB.