CFD and Experimental Study of 45° Inclined Thermal-Saline Reversible Buoyant Jets in Stationary Ambient

Abstract

Inclined submerged jets are mostly employed in the disposal of effluent produced by industrial sites such as desalination and power plants. The optimal design of discharge systems has been a topic of interest in many studies seeking to improve the mixing of effluent and reduce its negative environmental impacts. In addition to salinity, the effluent produced by thermal desalination units, which are usually built near power plants, has a high temperature compared to the marine environment and is mixed with hot power plant effluent, eventually forming thermal-saline effluent. The present study numerically modeled thermal-saline effluent using realizable k − e turbulence model for a discharge angle of 45° in a uniform, stationary environment. The experimental results were used to calibrate the model results. Generally, the geometrical characteristics obtained from the numerical and physical models were in good consistency, which indicates the ability of the model in predicting the behavior of thermal-saline jets.