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Project

Analysis and improvement of separation efficiency of air curtains in the built environment

A plane impinging jet can be defined as a high-velocity fluid stream forced by pressure out of a long narrow opening or nozzle and impinging on a surface. Air curtains use plane impinging jets at high velocities (high Reynolds numbers, i.e. turbulent jets) to separate two environments in terms of heat and mass transfer, while still allowing access to these environments. They are often used at the open entrance of buildings or enclosures to reduce heat losses. The separation efficiency is a key performance parameter for air curtains, and depends on a wide range of jet parameters and environmental parameters, such as temperatures and pressures in the two environments. A detailed literature review showed that there is a lack of knowledge on the relationship between the jet dynamics and separation efficiency on the one hand, and the large number of jet and environmental parameters on the other hand, especially for jets at high Reynolds numbers. In particular, knowledge about the separation efficiency in case of two environments at different temperatures and/or pressures is required to optimize the design and application of air curtains. This basic research is carried out using reduced-scale experiments and numerical simulations and studies a wide range of jet parameters and the environmental parameters temperature and pressure. The jet parameters are nozzle geometry, jet Reynolds number, velocity, turbulence intensity, jet temperature and pulsating flow from the jet nozzle.

Date:1 Jan 2018 →  31 Dec 2021
Keywords:Plane impinging jet, Separation efficiency
Disciplines:Other mechanical and manufacturing engineering