Turbulence production by a steam-driven jet in a water vessel

Direct steam injection is an efficient means of heating a volume of liquid. Usually the steam is injected via a nozzle, yielding a strong jet that condenses rapidly and transforms into a self-similar single phase jet. In the experiments reported in this paper, superheated steam is injected, centrally, at the bottom of a vertical, cylindrical water vessel. The resulting jet is turbulent (Re=7.9×10⁴-18.1×10⁴ with the length scale based on the width of the jet, r_1/2, and the velocity scale based on the centerline velocity, U₀). Using PIV in a vertical plane through the central axis, instantaneous velocity fields have been measured at a rate of 15 Hz. Near the inlet, the jet is mainly steam that rapidly condenses. Further downstream, the jet is essentially single phase, although some residual air is present as microscopically small bubbles. In the area directly downstream of the steam part, the ratio of r_1/2 to the vessel radius R (32.5 cm) is about 1/14. The production of turbulent kinetic energy has been quantified for the main process conditions. Its dependencies on temperature, nozzle opening and inlet steam pressure have been determined. This production of energy is related to the stresses exerted on small particles in the mixture, and break-up of particles is discussed.