Numerical simulation on turbulent buoyant jets in a cross-flow of stratified fluids

In this study, an investigation using a 3-D numerical model, which treats conservation of mass, momentum and salinity simultaneously, was carried out to study the detailed flow field of a buoyant jet in a uniform cross-stream of stable linearly stratified environment. A k-ε turbulence model was used to simulate the turbulent phenomena and close the solving problem. Results indicate that the numerical computation simulates satisfactorily the plume behavior in a stratified crossflow. The ambient stratification tends to inhibit the flow development by inducing pairs of vortex as the plume flowing downstream and results in causing the jet-flow oscillation from its maximum height-of-rise.