Abstract
The spatial development of a passive scalar plume is studied within the inhomogeneous turbulence of a boundary layer flow in a recirculating laboratory flume with a smooth bed. The source of the scalar is located flush with the bed, and the low-momentum source design is intended to simulate a diffusive-type scalar release. A weakly diffusive fluorescent dye is used as the scalar. Planar laser-induced fluorescence (PLIF) techniques were used to record the structure of the plume at a spatial resolution of 150 μm. The measured structure of the mean concentration field is compared to an analytical solution for shear-free, homogeneous turbulence. The laboratory plume exhibits spatial development in the mean concentration field that deviates from the self-similar behavior predicted by the analytical solution; this deviation is due to the mean shear and inhomogeneity of the turbulence. In particular, the influence of the viscous sublayer on the plume development is seen to be significant. Nonetheless, the analytical solution replicates some of the features seen in the laboratory plume, and the solution suggests methods of reducing the laboratory data even for cases where the results deviate from the analysis. We also examine the spatial development of the root-mean-square (rms) fluctuating concentration field, and use scalar probability density functions to examine the relationship between the mean and fluctuating concentrations.
Article PDF
Similar content being viewed by others
Avoid common mistakes on your manuscript.
References
Crimaldi JP, Koseff JR (2001) High-resolution measurements of the spatial and temporal structure of a turbulent plume. Exp Fluids 31:90–102
Bara BM, Wilson DJ, Zelt BW (1992) Concentration fluctutation profiles from a water channel simulation of a ground-level release. Atmos Environ 26A:1053–1062
Yee E, Wilson DJ, Zelt BW (1993) Probability-distributions of concentration fluctuations of a weakly diffusive passive plume in a turbulent boundary-layer. Bound-Lay Meteorol 64(4):321–354
Webster DR, Rahman S, Dasi LP (2003) Laser-induced fluorescence measurements of a turbulent plume. J Eng Mech ASCE 129(10):1130–1137
Rahman S, Webster DR (2005) The effect of bed roughness on scalar fluctuations in turbulent boundary layers. Exp Fluids 38(3):372–384
Robins AG (1978) Plume dispersion from ground level sources in simulated atmospheric boundary layers. Atmos Environ 12:1033–1044
Fackrell JE, Robins AG (1982) Concentration fluctuations and fluxes in plumes from point sources in a turbulent boundary layer. J Fluid Mech 117:1–26
Brown MJ, Arya SP, Snyder WH (1993) Vertical dispersion from surface and elevated releases-an investigation of a non-gaussian plume model. J Appl Meteorol 32(3):490–505
Gryning SE, Vanulden AP, Larsen SE (1983) Dispersion from a continuous ground-level source investigated by a k-model. Q J R Meteorol Soc 109(460):355–364
Crimaldi JP, Wiley MB, Koseff JR (2002) The relationship between mean and instantaneous structure in turbulent passive scalar plumes. J Turbul 3:1–24
Barrett TK (1989) Nonintrusive optical measurements of turbulence and mixing in a stably-stratified fluid. PhD thesis, University of California, San Diego
Spalart PR (1988) Direct simulation of a turbulent boundary layer up to \(\mathrm{Re}_{\delta_{2}}=1410\). J Fluid Mech 187:61–98
Fischer HE, List EJ, Koh RC, Imberger J, Brooks NH (1979) Mixing in Inland and coastal waters. Academic Press Inc, San Diego
Hunt JCR, Weber AH (1979) Lagrangian statistical-analysis of diffusion from a ground-level source in a turbulent boundary-layer. Q J R Meteorol Soc 105(444):423–443
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
Open Access This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Noncommercial License ( https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/2.0 ), which permits any noncommercial use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author(s) and source are credited.
About this article
Cite this article
Crimaldi, J.P., Koseff, J.R. Structure of turbulent plumes from a momentumless source in a smooth bed. Environ Fluid Mech 6, 573–592 (2006). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10652-006-9007-2
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10652-006-9007-2