Wall air-jet characteristics and airflow patterns within a slot ventilated enclosure

The present study reports on the numerical and experimental characterisation of airflow generated by a wall jet within a long and empty slot-ventilated enclosure. In the configuration investigated, blowing and outlet sections are placed in the front of the box. This design is extensively used in refrigerated transport. Experiments were carried out on a scale model (1:3.3) of a trailer. Numerical modelling of airflow was performed using the computational fluid dynamics Fluent code. In this study, a second-moment closure, the Reynolds stress model (RSM) and two-equation turbulence models: the standard k-epsilon and a renormalization group (RNG), were tested, contrasted and compared with experimental data. It was demonstrated that only the RSM model enabled detection of the presence and the localisation of separated flow and correctly predicts airflow patterns related to primary and secondary recirculation. (C) 2003 Editions scientifiques et medicales Elsevier SAS. All rights reserved.