INVESTIGATION OF ENTRAINMENT IN A DOUBLE-DIFFUSIVE THERMOHALINE SYSTEM WITH MIXING DRIVEN BY BOTTOM HEATING AND HORIZONTAL RECIRCULATION
Abstract
Experiments were performed in a large 10 m('3) tank to determine the effects of mixing, induced by bottom heating and a horizontal recirculation, on the entrainment of stratified fluid. Data were acquired in a Richardson number range (Ri (DBLTURN) 10('4)) not covered by any previous investigators. The entrainment data of this work and that of a previous study (10('2) < Ri < 10('3)), performed in a much smaller test cell, were collapsed using a single term Richardson number correlation. The appropriate velocity and length scales in the combined mixing experiments were the convective velocity, the square root of the jet kinematic momentum flux divided by the distance from the discharge diffuser to the interface, and the height of the mixed layer. The experimental results were compared with an integral mixed layer entrainment model derived from a parameterization of the turbulence kinetic energy equation. The entrainment rates of the small test cell experiments with bottom heating and the overall entrainment characteristics observed in the large tank are predicted well by the model. Diffusive characteristics of the interface were observed and found to be significant when the dimensionless group Richardson over the square root of the saline Peclet number approached 8 or 9.
Degree
Ph.D.
Subject Area
Mechanical engineering
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