Experiments with heavy gas jets in laminar and turbulent cross-flows

Abstract A wind tunnel study was performed to determine the dispersion characteristics of gas jets with densities heavier than that of air. The experiments were done in a laminar cross-flow and then repeated in a turbulent boundary layer. All major boundary-layer characteristics were measured and compared with corresponding field data. Jet dispersion was investigated photographically and by means of concentration measurements. Positions of maximum plume rise and of plume touch-down as well as the concentrations at these locations have been determined and compared with corresponding results from earlier studies. The most remarkable differences were found in the high densimetric Froude number range, which is characteristic of jets emerging from release valves of pressurized storage tanks.