RETRACTED: Experimental Investigation of Positively Buoyant Surface Jet in Confluence Regions

Abstract

Understanding the influence of ambient currents and jet discharge characteristics on warm polluted outfall performance is crucial for mitigating the ecological impact of effluents discharged from a diffuser in a confluence region. To this end, laser-induced fluorescence (LIF) experiments were conducted to investigate the combined effects of jet strength and nozzle location on the mixing of a positive or neutral jet issuing into a plane perpendicular to the crossflows. The trajectory and mixing within a channel junction of surface crossflow jets is investigated. Two different nozzle discharge locations and velocities were studied to assess the 3D jet trajectory and concentration distribution. The investigations revealed that a jet issued into the main channel mixes more effectively with wider dispersion compared with a jet issued in the tributary. This is due to the shear layer in the main channel, which restricts the jet in tributary to a narrower width, limiting its ability to mix effectively with ambient water.