Flow Visualization of Plume Encountering Horizontal Plate Affected by Channel Distance and Opening Diameter

• Main Author: Fikri F, Engine
• Format: Final Project
• Language: Indonesia
• Online Access: https://digilib.itb.ac.id/gdl/view/34604
• Institution: Institut Teknologi Bandung

Buoyant flow or plume is a type of flow that moves due to the buoyant force acting on the fluid. This type of flow is common in gas fluids. Gas is a transparent substance that is difficult to observe. It needs a method to observe the fluid streams. Flow visualization is one method that can describe what really happens in the fluid movement. The purpose of this study was to know the influence of gap size and opening diameter in the steadiness of the plume. These two variables are used to know their influence on Richardson Number. The selected diameters were 7, 25, and 42 mm and the selected distances were 6.7, 27.0, and 50.5 mm. In this study, laser and lens were used to create a laser plane that can visualize the buoyant flow. The buoyant flow was produced by hot water evaporation from 30th to 35th seconds. From the experiment, it was found that at the bigger diameter the flow would be unsteady. Distance also affected the buoyant flow, where the greater the distance the flow upwards would be more unsteady. The most stable flow produced by the diameter was 7 mm and the gap size was 6.7 mm. Richardson's number is also affected by the diameter and the distance between the funnel and the plate. The larger the diameter, the greater the value of Richardson number. The greater the distance, Richardson value will be smaller. This is due to the increase in the environment temperature value as the tests are carried out.