Three-Dimensional Numerical Simulations of Buoyant Jets Discharged from a Rosette-Type Multiport Diffuser

In some outfall systems, wastewaters are discharged into ambient water bodies using rosette-type diffusers in the form of multiple buoyant jets, and it is essential to simulate their mixing characteristics for practical applications and optimal design purposes. The mixing processes of a rosette jet group are more complicated than single jets and multiple horizontal or vertical jets, and thus the existing methods cannot be effectively used to simulate their mixing and dilution properties. With the recent advancements in numerical modeling approaches, numerical simulation of wastewater jets as three-dimensional phenomena can be feasible. The present study deals with a fully three-dimensional numerical simulation for buoyant jets discharged from a rosette-type multiport diffuser, with the standard and re-normalization group (RNG) k-epsilon turbulence models. The simulated results are compared with experimental data, and the results show a good agreement with the experimental data, demonstrating that the numerical model is an efficient and effective tool for simulating rosette jet groups. It was also concluded that the RNG k-epsilon model leads to better results than the standard k-epsilon model with a comparable computational cost. The validated model was further utilized to investigate the influences of port inclinations on the mixing behaviors.