DETACHMENT OF BUOYANT SURFACE JETS DISCHARGED ON SLOPE

Characteristics of a buoyant surface jet discharged on a sloping botto m are reviewed and a numerical experiment is performed to evaluate the depth at the point where the jet detaches from the bottom. This calcu lation is important in the context of predicting dilution and spreadin g characteristics of buoyant discharges, for example, associated with heated discharges from power plants. The experiment is based on a dire ct numerical solution of the longitudinally integrated momentum equati on, which takes into account entrainment and bottom friction. Results are compared with laboratory and field data reported in the literature , as well as previous empirical relations for calculating this depth. It is found that the appropriately scaled detachment depth varies with the inverse of the discharge densimetric Froude number. The scaled de pth decreases with increases in either the entrainment or bottom frict ion coefficient, but increases with increasing slope. A minor effect o f discharge aspect ratio is also shown. An equation is developed for p redicting detachment depth and the results help to resolve differences seen in preVioUS relations.