On the air entrainment of a 'non-combusting' thermal plume bounded by a ceiling

Preliminary studies on the simulation of air entrainment rates for a non-combusting thermal plume bounded by a ceiling using Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD), or fire field modeling technique is reported. The ceiling heights above the heat source were varied from 3 m to 6 m, with the thermal power of the heat source varying up to 5 MW. The plume equation for calculating the air entrainment rate from the clear height proposed by Thomas et al. was assessed [1]. The free plume equations appearing in literature are also compared. The relation of the air entrainment rate to the ventilation factor, i.e ceiling height to the two third power is also verified.