Wind tunnel wake measurements of heavier-than-air gas dispersion near a two-dimensional obstacle

The dispersion of a uniform two-dimensional flow of carbon dioxide gas in air over a square two-dimensional obstacle was studied experimentally in an atmospheric boundary-layer wind tunnel. The obstacle Reynolds number was about 6000 based upon the undisturbed velocity at the height of the obstacle, and the Froude number was about 1.75. Carbon dioxide was injected vertically upward from the surface at a rate of 10% of the freestream velocity. The injection surface area began one obstacle length upstream and extended upstream one and one-half obstacle lengths. A gas concentration measurement system for carbon dioxide and air mixtures was developed for use in an atmospheric wind tunnel. Centerline steady-state concentration profiles were measured for various locations downstream of the leading edge of the obstacle. The maximum concentrations of carbon dioxide occurred atop the obstacle in the thin recirculation zone above the obstacle. Immediately behind the obstacle within the larger downstream recirculation zone, concentration levels significantly decreased. Further downstream, the concentration levels continued to diminish.Experimental results were compared with the numerical solutions of Sutton et al. (1986). The experimental measurements of concentration were lower than the predicted results of the numerical solutions, which may be attributed to the higher value of the Froude number present in the experimental measurements.Associate Professor.