Gas-liquid jet reactors are widely used in chemical industries in various applications such as feed-water heaters, metal processing, and thermal energy sources, etc. In all these applications, the principal requirement for the design is a prior knowledge of jet shape and dimensions, which primarily depend upon the nozzle type, size, submergence and its orientation. In the present study, CFD simulations of non-reacting (steam-water) and reacting (SF6-Li) jets have been carried out to understand the variation in plume dimensions of gas-liquid jet reactors. For condensation jet and reaction jet, the criteria have been developed to identify the plume boundary based on the hold-up profile of steam/SF6 gas and the evaporated fuel. The effect of nozzle diameter and its orientation, nozzle gas velocity and bath temperature on the plume dimensions have been studied for both the types of jets. It was observed that the extent of increase in the plume length is always higher in the case of reaction jet as compared to the condensation jet for all the cases. The analyses also proved that, the availability of reactant is much better with the horizontal orientation which leads to stable plume length. The CFD model has been extended for the prediction of the flow pattern and its effect on the rate of condensation/reaction and plume dimensions for both the jet systems. (c) 2007 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.