Effect of Turbulence on Gas Transfer Velocity at the Water Surface

Anumerical analysis was made to investigate the effect of turbulence on gas transfer velocity at the water surface. The oxygen gas transfer processes due to oscillating-grid turbulence were analyzed under constant flux conditions by using a Reynolds stress model. The gas transfer velocity kL was related to a turbulent Reynolds number at the water surface Rts. The dependence of kL on Rts obtained from the numerical solutions agrees with the experimental result by Chu and Jirka(1992). This agreement shows that the Reynolds stress model is applicable to the prediction of gas transfer flux across the water surface.