Buoyant Discharges from Submerged Multiport Diffusers

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Abstract
The application of submerged multiport diffusers for the discharge of degradable liquid wastes and of heated cooling water from electric power generation forms an important aspect of coastal zone management. Previous buoyant jet models for submerged diffuser discharge have been developed for the limiting case of discharge in unconfined deep water in the form of rising buoyant jets. These models can be used for sewage diffusers, but are not applicable for diffusers in shallow receiving water with low buoyancy, the type used for thermal discharges (“thermal diffusers”). A multiport diffuser will produce a general three-dimensional flow. Yet the predominantly twodimensional flow which exists in the center portion of the three-dimensional diffuser can be analyzed as a two-dimensional “channel model”. Theoretical solutions for diffuser-induced dilutions are derived for the two-dimensional case and verified experimentally. Furthermore, the theory can be applied to the three-dimensional situation by requiring equivalency of far-field effects, that is the frictional resistance governing the diffuser-induced motion at larger distances from the diffuser line.

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