An Analytical, Numerical, and Experimental Comparison of the Fluid Velocity in the Vicinity of an Open Tank with One and Two Lateral Exhaust Slot Hoods and a Uniform Crossdraft

The objective of this research was to compare mathematical models of the fluid velocity in the vicinity of an open tank with lateral slot exhaust. Two approaches were explored: a numerical solution assuming turbulent flow and an analytical solution assuming potential flow. A numerical simulation of the flow field in and around an open surface tank was performed using the commercial software FLUENT™. An analytical solution was obtained using two-dimensional potential fluid flow determined using the Schwarz-Christoffel transformation and complex potential theory. The numerical and analytical solutions were compared with numerical solutions and experimental measurements published by others. The numerical solution using FLUENT and the two numerical solutions published by others appear to reflect experimental conditions with equal accuracy. In some regions, the FLUENT solution appears better while in other regions the other two solutions appear better. Differences in geometry and boundary conditions could explain these differences. Greater differences were observed between the FLUENT and CFX-F3D™ solutions than between the EOL-2D™ and CFX-F3D solutions. This was unexpected since the geometry, boundary conditions, and turbulence model were more similar in the former case than in the latter. The potential flow solution, while simpler and less computationally intensive than the numerical solutions, resulted in estimates of experimental velocity that were equally as good as those of the numerical solutions. The simplicity and conservative estimates of this model make it useful for estimating exhaust hood flow fields. © 2000 British Occupational Hygiene Society. Published by Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.