Air flow inside a vertical pipe induced by a free-falling water jet

Abstract

The air flow induced by a water jet freely falling inside a vertical pipe with its top and bottom both open to the atmosphere was investigated experimentally and numerically. In the experiments, the radial air velocity distribution and the air pressure variation along the vertical pipe were measured. The air drag of the falling water jet was related to the jet surface disturbance and analyzed by introducing the equivalent friction factor. A predictive model was developed for the air flow inside a 3-m-high pipe based on the momentum equation and its results compared well with the experimental measurements. Numerical simulations were also conducted by approximating the free-falling water jet as a continuous moving solid with diameter and velocity varying in the direction of motion. The effects of pipe size on the air velocity profile and the induced air flow rate were examined. The simulation results showed that the streamwise air velocity profiles inside pipes of different sizes approached the same after a certain traveling distance. The maximum induced air flow rate was found at the pipe diameter of about 20 times of initial water jet diameter.