Measurements of air entrainment by vertical plunging liquid jets

This paper addresses the issue of the air-entrainment process by a vertical plunging liquid jet. A non-dimensional physical analysis, inspired by the literature on the stability of free jets submitted to an aerodynamic interaction, was developed and yielded two correlation equations for the laminar and the turbulent plunging jets. These correlation equations allow the volumetric flow rate of the air carryunder represented by the Weber number of entrainment We _n to be predicted. The plunging jets under consideration issued from circular tubes long enough to achieve a fully developed flow at the outlet. A sensitive technique based on a rising soap meniscus was developed to measure directly the volumetric flow rate of the air carryunder. Our data are compared with other experimental data available in the literature; they also stand as a possible database for future theoretical modelling. Received: 2 November 2000/Accepted: 13 November 2001