This review article focuses on the near-field flow characteristics of coaxial circular jets that, despite their common usage in combustion processes, are still not well understood. In particular, changes in outer to inner jet velocity ratios, ru, absolute jet exit velocities and the nozzle dimensions and geometry have a profound effect on the near-field flow that is characterized by shear as well as wake instabilities. This review starts by presenting the set of equations governing the flow field and, in particular, the importance of the Reynolds stress distributions on the static pressure distribution is emphasized. Next, the literature that has led to the current stage of knowledge on coaxial jet flows is presented. Based on this literature review, several regions in the near-field (based on ru) are identified in which the inner mixing layer is either governed by shear or wake instabilities. The latter become dominant when ru≈1. For coaxial jets issued into a quiescent surrounding, shear instabilities of the annular (outer) jet are always present and ultimately govern the flow field in the far-field. We briefly discuss the effect of nozzle geometry by comparing the flow field in studies that used a blockage disk to those that employed thick inner nozzle lip thickness. Similarities and differences are discussed. While impinging coaxial jets have not been investigated much, we argue in this review that the rich flow dynamics in the near-field of the coaxial jet might be put to an advantage in fine-tuning coaxial jets impinging onto surfaces for specific heat and mass transfer applications. Several open questions are discussed at the end of this review.

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