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ISSN Online: 2379-1748

9th Thermal and Fluids Engineering Conference (TFEC)
April, 21-24, 2024, Corvallis, OR, USA

3-D AND 2-D NON-ISOTHERMAL FLUID FLOW ANALYSIS OF A SLOT JET REATTACHMENT NOZZLE ARRAY

Get access (open in a dialog) pages 861-870
DOI: 10.1615/TFEC2024.icp.050978

Abstract

Impinging jets are extensively used in various industrial applications, but they (i.e., inline and slot jets) exert high pressures on the impinging surface. This is a significant drawback for drying fragile products (e.g., food substrates). In such cases, the mass flow rate must be reduced to avoid high pressures on the surface of the products, which leads to reduced heat and mass transfer performance. One way to enhance the energy efficiency of drying without causing high surface pressures is using air impingement nozzles called slot jet reattachment (SJR) nozzles. An SJR nozzle diverts the incoming flow into two streams that can create two turbulent reattachment zones on the target surface. Most of the previous SJR nozzle studies in the literature considered a single SJR nozzle rather than an array of nozzles, and there is a need to understand how SJR nozzles would work together in arrays, in an industrial setting. Therefore, for the first time, non-isothermal fluid flow analyses are numerically conducted for an array of SJR nozzles. The study is conducted in three-(3-D) and two-dimensional (2-D) domains to determine if the results in 2-D are comparable to those in 3-D. The results show that an array of SJR nozzles can create turbulent reattachment zones similar to a single SJR nozzle, and 2-D simulation gives sufficiently accurate results compared to the 3-D model with the studied oven design similar to conventional industrial heating/baking ovens.