Laminar plume interactions

Abstract

Interactions between laminar thermal natural convection plumes generated by line and concentrated heat sources were experimentally investigated with a Mach-Zehnder interferometer. Adjacent plane plumes were found to interact more strongly than axisymmetric plumes a t the same spacing. These flows with nominally free boundaries were also found to be affected by nearby surfaces which interfered with the supply of entrainment fluid. Several types of interference with plume entrainment were investigated. The nature of the interacting flows suggests a model which is successful in interpreting the mechanism. An application of the effects of plume interaction is discussed.