Turbulent intensity

Laminar flame instabilities are dominated by diffusional effects that can only be of importance in flows with a low turbulence intensity, where molecular transport is of the same order of magnitude as turbulent transport (28). Flame instabilities do not appear to be capable of generating turbulence. They result in the growth of certain disturbances, leading to orderly three-dimensional stmctures which, though complex, are steady (1,2,8,9). 

Aircraft can take vertical temperature soundings and can measure air pollutant and tracer concentrations and turbulence intensity. Airborne lidar can measure plume heights, and integrating nephelometers can determine particle size distributions. 

Local air motion is another thermal nonuniformity that can cause a local cooling of the skin and the feeling of a draft. Draft discomfort from local air motion increases as the air temperature decreases below skin temperature. Fluctuations in the local air motion increase the perception of drafts and should be avoided. The unsteadiness of air motion is often described in terms of its turbulence intensity (Tu) ... 

Figure 6.6 and Tables 6.4-6.6 give ranges for local thermal discomfort parameters for the three categories listed in Table 6.3. The acceptable mean air velocity is a function of local air temperature and turbulence intensity. 7 he turbulence intensity may vary between 30% and 60% in spaces with mixed flow air distribution. In spaces with displacement ventilation or without mechanical ventilation, the turbulence intensity may be lower. 

FIGURE 6.6 Acceptable mean air velocity as a function of local air temperature and turbulence intensity for the three categories of thermal environment. 

Air and contaminant movement and turbulent intensity in the ventilated space are affected by different external and internal forces, such as... 

High supply air velocities or cool supply air can cause uncomfortable drafts on the worker. Nonuniform supply air velocities with high turbulence intensity may result in decreased capture efficiency, increased contaminant spread, and increased thermal discomfort. 

TTie ability of the ventilation system to protect the worker efficiently can readily be determined by personal samples. The PIMEX method (see Chapter 12) can be used to determine the worker s exposure during various work phases. The capture efficiency as well as the supply air fraction can be measured using tracer gas techniques. Simple evaluation is carried out visually with smoke tube or pellet tests. Daily system evaluation is recommended using airflow or static pressure measurements at appropriate parts of the system. The air velocities, turbulence intensities, air temperature, mean radiant temperature, and air humidity should also be measured to provide an assessment ol thermal comfort. 

The probability density function of u is shown for four points in Fig. 11.16, two points in the wall jet and two points in the boundary layer close to the floor. For the points in the wall jet (Fig. 11.16<2) the probability (unction shows a preferred value of u showing that the flow has a well-defined mean velocity and that the velocity is fluctuating around this mean value. Close to the floor near the separation at x/H = I (Fig. 11.16f ) it is hard to find any preferred value of u, which shows that the flow is irregular and unstable with no well-defined mean velocity and large turbulent intensity. From Figs. 11.15 and 11.16 we can see that LES gives us information about the nature of the turbulent fluctuations that can be important for thermal comfort. This type of information is not available from traditional CFD using models. 

The similarity of velocity and of turbulence intensity is documented in Fig. 12.29. The figure shows a vertical dimensionless velocity profile and a turbulence intensity profile measured by isothermal model experiments at two different Reynolds numbers. It is obvious that the shown dimensionless profiles of both the velocity distribution and the turbulence intensity distribution are similar, which implies that the Reynolds number of 4700 is above the threshold Reynolds number for those two parameters at the given location. 

FIGURE 12.29 Velocity distribution and turbulence intensity in the occupied zone of a room at two different Reynolds numbers. H is the height of the room. 

What are the mechanisms by which slow, laminar combustion can be transformed into an intense, blast-generating process This transformation is most strongly influenced by turbulence, and secondarily by combustion instabilities. A laminar-flame front propagating into a turbulent mixture is strongly affected by the turbulence. Low-intensity turbulence will only wrinkle the flame front and enlarge its surface area. With increasing turbulence intensity, the flame front loses its more-or-less smooth, laminar character and breaks up into a combustion zone. In an intensely turbulent mixture, combustion takes place in an extended zone in which... 

Hao et al. (2007) investigated the water flow in a glass tube with diameter of 230 Lim using micro particle velocimetry. The streamwise and mean velocity profile and turbulence intensities were measured at Reynolds number ranging from 1,540 to 2,960. Experimental results indicate that the transition from laminar to turbulent flow occurs at Re = 1,700—1,900 and the turbulence becomes fully developed at Re > 2,500. 

Variation of the normalized remaining percentage of CH4 fuel (c/Cj) after a run, measured by the gas chromatography, plotted over a very wide range of normalized turbulent intensities (u /Sl 10 100), where the subscript "i" refers to the initial condition. Both very rich (0 = 1.45 Cj = 13.2%) and very lean = 0.6 q = 5.92%) pure methane/air mixtures are investigated, showing critical values of Ka for the transition across which global quench occurs. 

Since the local turbulence intensity and the energy dissipation in the reactor are lower, under the condition that the gas hold-up keeps approximately constant in the riser and in the... 

Vertical surface collectors can readily provide information on relative drift (e.g., the amount of drift from one field trial compared to another). However, it is difficult to obtain absolute data unless the precise collection characteristics are known for the droplet size spectrum at the point of spray collection, wind speed and air turbulence intensity. " The SDTF conducted studies in wind tunnels to compare the collection efficiency of different types of drift collector used in its field studies. These studies showed that collection efficiency on strings was several orders of magnitude higher for 0.8-mm diameter cotton string than for 2-mm diameter polyethylene line and vertical o -cellulose strips or squares. The higher collection efficiency for the cotton... 

K. L. McCarthy, L. Odberg, R. L. Powell 1994, (Turbulent pipe-flow studied by time-averaged NMR imaging - measurements of velocity profile and turbulent intensity), Magn. Reson. Imag. 12, 923. 

The perimeter ib, representing the turbulent intensity at the bubble layer-core interface, is calculated as the product of the single-phase turbulent intensity at the bubble-layer edge and a two-phase enhancement factor. The resulting expression is... 

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