Experimental investigation on behavior of multiple vertical buoyant jets discharged into a stagnant ambient

The behavior of merging buoyant jets discharged from uni-directional diffuser has been examined considering the interaction of individual axi-symmetric jets. Some series of experiments have been performed to define the range of merging transition based on the variations of local flow properties. The properties for the large eddies on the boundaries; passing frequency, vortex spacing, and Strouhal number, are also measured to investigate the evolution of individual jets to a merged flow. The results of this study show that the local flow properties change from those of axi-symmetric to merged flow over a merging transition where b/p (s) = 0.3 to 1.2. The flapping motion is observed as the individual jets get merged with neighboring ones. After the merging transition (b/p (s) = 0.3 to 1.2), the flows show a typical behavior of plane flows with a constant value of Strouhal number.