Jet type model for the three‐dimensional thermal plume in a crosscurrent and under wind

Abstract

A dynamic three‐dimensional model for predicting water temperatures in a thermal plume has been formulated and tested. The plume that results from the discharge of heated water is described in terms of a buoyant, turbulent half jet. The effects of a crosscurrent and wind can be accommodated by the model. Mixing by turbulence, lateral spread due to buoyancy, heat transfer at the water surface, and deflection of the main trajectory under wind shear stress in a current are accounted for. Although it was necessary to make several broad assumptions, e.g., that all cross‐sectional temperature distributions are similar and that there is no distortion of the cross section by wind, the results show the overall behavior of the plume reasonably well. The model does not account for the effects of solid boundaries; its main features are its simplicity and comprehensiveness, its combination of the several processes having a major effect on plume behavior, and its ability to include possible future experimental or theoretical results without major changes in the program.