Interacting Turbulent Plumes in a Naturally Ventilated Enclosure

The interaction of turbulent plumes is examined in the context of building ventilation flows. Recent models for natural ventilation have been based on simplified treatment of the heat sources in a ventilated enclosure. These models treat buoyancy sources as plumes and assume that they do not interact. To improve the applicability of these models to buildings we examine the effects of plume-plume interaction on the ventilation flow. We present experimental results for the flow in a ventilated enclosure where two plumes in close proximity to each other coalesce to form a single plume. We also examine the case of two plumes of opposing buoyancy flux colliding in a ventilated enclosure. Theoretical models for the effect of this interaction on the standard ventilation model of Linden, Lane-Serff and Smeed (1990) are also discussed.