Helium jets discharging normally into a swirling air flow

Abstract

The characteristics of helium jets injected normally to a swirling air flow are investigated experimentally using laser Doppler and hot-wire anemometers. Two jets with jet-to-crossflow momentum flux ratios of 0.28 and 12.6 are examined. The jets follow a spiral path similar to that found in the swirling air flow alone. Swirl acts to decrease jet penetration, but this is being counteracted by the lighter jet fluid density which is being pressed towards the tube center by the inward pressure gradient. Consequently, in spite of the large variation in momentum flux ratio, jet penetration into the main flow for the two jets investigated is about the same. The presence of the jet is felt only along the spiral path and none at all outside this region. Upstream of the jet, the oncoming swirling flow is essentially unaffected. These characteristics are quite different from jets discharging into a uniform crossflow at about the same momentum flux ratios, and can be attributed to the combined effects of swirl and density difference between the jet fluid and the air stream. Finally, the jets lose their identity in about fifteen jet diameters.