23rd International Symposium on Transport Phenomena

Auckland, New Zealand

1922 November 2012

Mixing of density stratified fluid with jet flow

Shogo Shakouchi1 and Tomomi Uchiyama2

1
Graduate School of Information Science, Nagoya University,
Furo-cho, Chikusa-ku, Nagoya 464-8603, Japan
2
EcoTopia Science Institute, Nagoya University,
Furo-cho, Chikusa-ku, Nagoya 464-8603, Japan

Abstract visualization. The width and depth of the tank are 305 mm and
170 mm respectively, while the height is 230 mm.
The mixing phenomena of a density stratified fluid by a jet flow
in a tank are experimentally investigated. The jet issues vertically The upper fluid is the water, and the lower one is the salt water of
upward from a circular nozzle mounted at the bottom of the tank which salt concentration is 2 percent, as depicted in Fig. 2. The
into the density stratified fluid composed of water and 2 percent height for the upper water is 38.6 mm, and that for the lower salt
salt water. The jet Reynolds number Re ranges from 420 to 3160. water is 67.5 mm. The diameter of the nozzle for the jet is 10 mm.
This study classifies the jet behavior into three patterns according The length is set at 100 mm to ensure enough inlet length. The
to Re and highlights the mixing of the density stratified fluid by nozzle exit is set at the height of 20 mm from the bottom of the
the jet at Re=420. tank. The origin of coordinates is the nozzle exit center. The -axis
is horizontal, and y-axis is vertical. The salt water in the lower
layer of the tank is circulated by the jet from the nozzle. This
circulation maintains the thicknesses of the upper and lower
1. Introduction layers.
Density stratified fluid exists in various environmental and
Acrylic transparent tank
industrial situations. The typical example is found in ocean, and
one can also observe in LNG (Liquefied Natural Gas) storage
tank. The density and components of LNG vary depending on the
producing area as well as the purification plant. Therefore, a Laser Sheet
density stratified fluid is formed in the storage tank when a LNG y
Upper layer Laser
is loaded into other LNGs. After the loading, the density ( Water )
stratified fluid frequently becomes unstable with the passage of
time. This is caused by the change in the density of LNG due to Lower layer Jet flow
the temperature and composition variations. When the density of ( 2% Salt Water ) x
the lower fluid is smaller than that of the upper one, a sudden
mixing, which is called Rollover, occurs. The rollover
generates a large amount of vaporized gases in the tank, Flow Nozzle
Pump
damaging the tank. To prevent the rollover, the LNG is forced to Meter
be mixed in the tank by a mixing pump.
Mixing phenomena of density stratified fluid have thus far been
studied. Turner [1] heated the bottom of a tank of a stratified Water paint
fluid and observed the resultant convection flow. The observation
clarified the transport phenomena penetrating the heat and Fig. 1 Experimental set-up
density boundaries. Ansong et al. [2] classified the fluid motion
around an interface of stratified fluid after a jet penetrates the
interface. They also examined theoretically the height which the Laser Sheet
jet flow reaches and compared the result with the experimental Acrylic transparent tank
one. But the mixing of density stratified fluid by a jet flow has
not been fully investigated. In this study, the mixing phenomena
are experimentally investigated so as to acquire fundamental Upper layer 38.6 High Speed Camera
knowledge on the mixing of LNG in the storage tank. ( Water )

Lower layer Jet flow 67.5

( 2% Salt Water )
2. Experimental Set-Up and Method 20
(1) Experimental set-up
Figures 1 outlines the experimental set-up. A density stratified Nozzle
fluid, composed water and salt water, is contained in a (Inlet diameter d=10mm)
rectangular tank. A jet is issued vertically upward from a circular
nozzle mounted at the bottom of the tank to mix the fluid. The Fig. 2 Tank and density stratified fluid
tank is made of transparent acrylic resin to allow the flow
The jet behaviour and the mixing phenomena are visualized by a jet behaviour in the upper layer becomes more complicated and
laser light sheet, of which power, wavelength and thickness are the mixing is more promoted.
100 mW, 532 nm and 1 mm respectively. A small amount of
white water paint is added to the jet for the visualization. The c. In case of Re2110
images in the vertical plane passing through the centre of the The jet flow penetrates the interface and reaches the upper water
nozzle axis are captured by a high-speed video camera. The surface. The jet spreads along the water surface, because it has
spatial resolution, the frame rate and the shutter speed are still velocity energy there. The jet hardly falls in the upper region,
640x480 pixels, 200 fps and 1/200 s respectively. The though the density difference exists.
experiments are conducted for the jet Reynolds number ranging
from 420 to 3160. Figures 6 and 7 depict the flow patterns at Re=2110 and 3160
respectively. One can confirm the penetration at the interface and
the spread along the water surface.
(2) Measurement of concentration distribution
To measure the concentration distribution, a small amount of
white paint is added to the jet flow. The mixing of the jet flow
with the paint-free water causes the brightness distribution on the
image captured by the camera. As the brightness almost
corresponds to the concentration of the corresponding fluid, one
can measure the concentration from the brightness. This study
assumes that the concentration of the jet at the nozzle exit is unity
and that the concentration is proportional to the brightness.
The image is divided into square grids as shown in Fig. 3, and the
mean brightness in each grid is estimated. The side length of the
grid is the half of the nozzle diameter d. The density interface and
the upper water surface locate at the heights of 4.75d and 8.61d
respectively from the nozzle exit.

Fig. 4 Flow pattern at Re=420

Fig. 3 Grids to measure concentration

Fig. 5 Flow pattern at Re=1050

3. Experimental Result
(1) Classification of jet behaviour and flow pattern
It is found that the jet behaviour and the surrounding fluid motion
depend on the jet Reynolds number Re. They are classified into
three patterns as follows:
a. In case of Re<420
The jet flow does not penetrate the density interface. It produces
a convection flow only within the lower layer. The mixing
between the upper and lower layers scarcely occurs.
b. In case of 420Re<2110
The jet flow penetrates the density interface. But it does not reach
the upper water surface, being lowered to the interface.
Figure 4 shows the visualized flow pattern in the case of Re=420.
Fig. 6 Flow pattern at Re=2110
Some lumps of fluid are released from the top of the jet in the
upper layer, and they fall. The release and the fall promote the
mixing between the jet and the upper fluid. Figure 5 presents the
result at Re=1050. When compared with the result at Re=420, the
 Fig. 7 Flow pattern at Re=3160 Fig. 8 (c) Jet behaviour at Re=420 t=t0+2 s

(2) Jet behaviour and flow pattern at Re=420

Figure 8 shows the behaviour of the jet flow in the case of
Re=420. The time at which the jet reaches its maximum height is
set at t0, and the flow patterns at every 1 second are presented.
When the time at Fig. 8 (a), some lumps of fluid are released
from the top of the jet, and they fall. When the time at Figs. (b),
(c), (d) and (f), they also spread sinuously along the density
interface.
Such spreading behaviour was also reported by Ansong et al. [2].

Fig. 8 (d) Jet behaviour at Re=420 t=t0+3 s

Fig. 8 (a) Jet behaviour at Re=420 t=t0

Fig. 8 (e) Jet behaviour at Re=420 t=t0+4 s

Fig. 8 (b) Jet behaviour at Re=420 t=t0+1 s Fig. 8 (f) Jet behaviour at Re=420 t=t0+5 s
(3) Concentration distribution at Re=420
Figure 9 shows the concentration distribution of the flow at
Re=420. The distributions on four horizontal sections at t=t0+5 s
are compared with the results in a tank without a density interface.
On the sections of y=1.25d, 3.25d and 5.25d, the concentration is
almost unity around the jet centreline (x=0) in the tank without
the interface. The density interface lies at y=4.75d. The
concentration in the density stratified fluid is also unity at
y=1.25d and 3.25d. But it is higher at the periphery of the jet on
the section of y=5.25d, demonstrating the active mixing of the jet
with the surrounding fluid.
The vertical distribution for the concentration at the same time
points as Fig. 9 is plotted in Fig. 10, where Re=420. On the
vertical sections of x=d, 3d and 5d, one can observe the increase
of the concentration at 3< y<8, indicating the mixing of the fluids
around the density interface at y=4.75d. The concentration at x=d
is higher than those at x=3d and 5d.
The time variation for the concentration is presented in Fig. 11, (a) x=d
where Re=420. Figure 11 (a) shows the vertical distribution on
the section of x=d around the jet centre line. Though the
concentration is higher near the density interface at y=4.75d
when t=t0 and t0+1 s, it decreases in the subsequent time points.
The time variation induced by the lumps of fluid released from
the top of the jet is reconfirmed. The concentration on the section
of x=3d away from the jet centre line distributes as shown in Fig.
11 (b). The variation is not so large, indicating the decay of the
mixing.

(b) x=3d
Fig. 11 Time variation of concentration at Re=420

Fig. 9 Horizontal distribution of concentration when Re=420
4. Conclusion
The mixing phenomena of a density stratified fluid by a jet flow
in a tank are experimentally investigated. The jet issues vertically
upward from a circular nozzle mounted at the bottom of the tank
into the density stratified fluid composed of water and 2 percent
salt water. The jet Reynolds number Re ranges from 420 to 3160.
It is found that the jet behavior is classified into three patterns
according to Re. In this study, the flow pattern and the mixing
phenomena at Re=420 are studied in detail. The jet flow
penetrates the density interface. But it does not reach the upper
water surface, being lowered to the interface. Some lumps of
fluid are released from the top of the jet in the upper layer, and
they fall. The release and fall promote the mixing between the jet
and the upper fluid.

5. References
[1] J. S. Turner, The coupled turbulent transports of salt and
heat across a sharp density interface, J. Heat Mass Transfer.
Vol. 8, 1965, pp759-767.
[2] J. K. Ansong, P. J. Kyba and B. R. Sutherland, Fountains
impinging on a density interface, J. Fluid Mech. Vol. 595,
2008, pp. 115-139.
Fig. 10 Vertical distribution of concentration when Re=420