Abstract
This study presents simultaneous particle image velocimetry (PIV) and laser-induced fluorescence (LIF) measurements of a phase-locked meandering chemical plume, the motion of which is forced by the periodic oscillation of a diverting plate. The plume evolves in a turbulent boundary layer in a moderate-Reynolds-number open channel flow. For the meandering plume, the centerline phase-averaged concentration decreases more rapidly with downstream distance and the plume width increases more rapidly with downstream distance (as \(x^{1}\)) compared to the straight plume (as \(x^{3/4}\)). Furthermore, the concentration fields and transverse profiles are asymmetric about the plume centerline in the meandering plume. Nevertheless, the transverse profiles can be modeled by a Gaussian shape in a segmented manner. The velocity fields indicate that the large-scale alternating-sign vortices induced by the diverting plate are the dominant feature of the flow. The vortices induce the plume to meander and govern the spatial distribution of the phase-averaged concentration. The induced fluid motion by the vortices also helps in explaining the increased mixing and dilution of the concentration field. Further, a phenomenological model of chemical filament transport by the vortical motion explains local peaks in the phase-averaged concentration along the plume centerline.
Graphical abstract
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Anfossi D, Oettl D, Degrazia G, Goulart A (2005) An analysis of sonic anemometer observations in low wind speed conditions. Bound-Layer Meteorol 114:179–203. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10546-004-1984-4
Arcoumanis C, McGuirk JJ, Palma JMLM (1990) On the use of fluorescent dyes for concentration measurements in water flows. Exp Fluids 10:177–180. https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00215028
Balu M, Balachandar R, Wood H (2001) Concentration estimation in two-dimensional bluff body wakes using image processing and neural networks. J Flow vis Image Process 8:121–139. https://doi.org/10.1615/JFlowVisImageProc.v8.i2-3.30
Bara BM, Wilson DJ, Zelt BW (1992) Concentration fluctuation profiles from a water channel simulation of a ground level release. Atmos Environ 26:1053–1062. https://doi.org/10.1016/0960-1686(92)90037-L
Bo JC, Hui DL, Fang LD (2003) Study of concentration fields in turbulent wake regions. J Hydraul Res 41:311–318. https://doi.org/10.1080/00221680309499975
Chatwin PC, Sullivan PJ (1989) The intermittency factor of scalars in turbulence. Phys Fluids A 1:761–763. https://doi.org/10.1063/1.857372
Cramp A, Coulson M, James A, Berry J (1991) A note on the observed and predicted flow patterns around islands—Flat Holm, the Bristol channel. Int J Remote Sens 12:1111–1118. https://doi.org/10.1080/01431169108929714
Crimaldi JP (2008) Planar laser induced fluorescence in aqueous flows. Exp Fluids 44:851–863. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00348-008-0496-2
Crimaldi JR, Koseff JR (2006) Structure of turbulent plumes from a momentumless source in a smooth bed. Environ Fluid Mech 6:573–592. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10652-006-9007-2
Crimaldi JP, Wiley MB, Koseff JR (2002) The relationship between mean and instantaneous structure in turbulent passive scalar plumes. J Turbul. https://doi.org/10.1088/1468-5248/3/1/014
Csanady GT (1973) Turbulent diffusion in the environment. D. Reidel Publishing Co., Boston
DeFelice TP, Meyer DJ, Xian G, Christopherson J, Cahalan R (2000) Landsat-7 reveals more than just surface features in remote areas of the globe. Bull Am Meteorol Soc 81:1047–1049. https://doi.org/10.1175/1520-0477(2000)081%3c1047:CAA%3e2.3.CO;2
Etling D (1990) On plume meandering under stable stratification. Atmos Environ 24:1979–1985. https://doi.org/10.1016/0960-1686(90)90232-C
Ferrier AJ, Funk DR, Roberts PJW (1993) Application of optical techniques to the study of plumes in stratified fluids. Dyn Atmos Oceans 20:155–183. https://doi.org/10.1016/0377-0265(93)90052-9
Fischer HB, List EJ, Koh RCY, Imberger J, Brooks NH (1979) Mixing in inland and coastal waters. Academic Press, New York
Fong DA, Stacey MT (2003) Horizontal dispersion of a near-bed coastal plume. J Fluid Mech 489:239–267. https://doi.org/10.1017/S002211200300510X
Franzese P (2003) Lagrangian stochastic modeling of a fluctuating plume in the convective boundary layer. Atmos Environ 37:1691–1701. https://doi.org/10.1016/S1352-2310(03)00003-7
Gifford F (1959) Statistical properties of a fluctuating plume dispersion model. Adv Geophys 6:117–136. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0065-2687(08)60099-0
Hanna SR (1984) Concentration fluctuations in a smoke plume. Atmos Environ 18:1091–1106. https://doi.org/10.1016/0004-6981(84)90141-0
Hanna SR (1986) Spectra of concentration fluctuations: the two time scales of a meandering plume. Atmos Environ 20:1131–1137. https://doi.org/10.1016/0004-6981(86)90145-9
Ingram RG, Chu VH (1987) Flow around islands in Rupert Bay: An investigation of the bottom friction effect. J Geophys Res Oceans 92:14521–14533. https://doi.org/10.1029/JC092iC13p14521
Jeong J, Hussain F (1995) On the identification of a vortex. J Fluid Mech 285:69–94. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0022112095000462
Kristensen L, Jensen NO, Petersen EL (1981) Lateral dispersion of pollutants in a very stable atmosphere—the effect of meandering. Atmos Environ 15:837–844. https://doi.org/10.1016/0004-6981(81)90288-2
Law AWK, Wang H (2000) Measurements of mixing processes using combined digital particle tracking velocimetry and planar laser induced fluorescence. Exp Therm Fluid Sci 22:213–229. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0894-1777(00)00029-7
Liao Q, Cowen EA (2010) Relative dispersion of a scalar plume in a turbulent boundary layer. J Fluid Mech 661:412–445. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0022112010003058
Luhar AK, Hibberd MF, Borgas MS (2000) A skewed meandering plume model for concentration statistics in the convective boundary layer. Atmos Environ 34:3599–3616. https://doi.org/10.1016/S1352-2310(00)00111-4
Marro M, Nironi C, Salizzoni P, Soulhac L (2015) Dispersion of a passive scalar fluctuating plume in a turbulent boundary layer. Part II: analytical modelling. Bound Layer Meteorol 156:447–469. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10546-015-0041-9
Mortarini L, Franzese R, Ferrero E (2009) A fluctuating plume model for concentration fluctuations in a plant canopy. Atmos Environ 43:921–927. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.atmosenv.2008.10.035
Nironi C, Salizzoni P, Marro M, Mejean P, Grosjean N, Soulhac L (2015) Dispersion of a passive scalar fluctuating plume in a turbulent boundary layer. Part I: velocity and concentration measurements. Bound Layer Meteorol 156:415–446. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10546-015-0040-x
Oettl D, Goulart A, Degrazia G, Anfossi D (2005) A new hypothesis on meandering atmospheric flows in low wind speed conditions. Atmos Environ 39:1739–1748. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.atmosenv.2004.11.034
Page JL, Dickman BD, Webster DR, Weissburg MJ (2011a) Getting ahead: context-dependent responses to odorant filaments drive along-stream progress during odor tracking in blue crabs. J Exp Biol 214:1498–1512. https://doi.org/10.1242/jeb.049312
Page JL, Dickman BD, Webster DR, Weissburg MJ (2011b) Staying the course: chemical signal spatial properties and concentration mediate cross-stream motion in turbulent plumes. J Exp Biol 214:1513–1522. https://doi.org/10.1242/jeb.049304
Rahman S, Webster DR (2005) The effect of bed roughness on scalar fluctuations in turbulent boundary layers. Exp Fluids 38:372–384. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00348-004-0919-7
Reynolds AM (2000) Representation of internal plume structure in Gifford’s meandering plume model. Atmos Environ 34:2539–2545. https://doi.org/10.1016/S1352-2310(99)00506-3
Ride DJ (1988) A model for the observed intermittency of a meandering plume. J Hazard Mater 19:131–137. https://doi.org/10.1016/0304-3894(88)85044-1
Roberts PJ, Webster DR (2002) Turbulent diffusion. In: Shen HH, Cheng AHD, Wang K, Teng MH, Liu CCK (eds) Environmental fluid mechanics: theories and applications. American Society of Civil Engineers, Reston, pp 7–47. https://doi.org/10.1002/9780470057339.vat029
Sawford BL, Stapountzis H (1986) Concentration fluctuations according to fluctuating plume models in one and two dimensions. Bound Layer Meteorol 37:89–105. https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00122758
Stacey MT, Cowen EA, Powell TM, Dobbins E, Monismith SG, Koseff JR (2000) Plume dispersion in a stratified, near-coastal flow: measurements and modeling. Cont Shelf Res 20:637–663. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0278-4343(99)00061-8
Sykes RI (1984) The variance in time-averaged samples from an intermittent plume. Atmos Environ 18:121–123. https://doi.org/10.1016/0004-6981(84)90234-8
Talluru KM, Philip J, Chauhan KA (2018) Local transport of passive scalar released from a point source in a turbulent boundary layer. J Fluid Mech 846:292–317. https://doi.org/10.1017/jfm.2018.280
Thomson RE, Gower JFR, Bowker NW (1977) Vortex streets in the wake of the Aleutian Islands. Mon Weather Rev 105:873–884. https://doi.org/10.1175/1520-0493(1977)105%3c0873:VSITWO%3e2.0.CO;2
Tracy HJ, Lester CM (1961) Resistance coefficients and velocity distribution smooth rectangular channel. US Geological Survey Water Supply Paper 1592-A. https://doi.org/10.3133/wsp1592A
Van Dyke M (1982) An album of fluid motion. Parabolic Press, Stanford
Vanderwel C, Tavoularis S (2014a) Measurements of turbulent diffusion in uniformly sheared flow. J Fluid Mech 754:488–514. https://doi.org/10.1017/jfm.2014.406
Vanderwel C, Tavoularis S (2014b) Relative dispersion of a passive scalar plume in turbulent shear flow. Phys Rev E 89:041005(R). https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevE.89.041005
Vanderwel C, Tavoularis S (2016) Scalar dispersion by coherent structures in uniformly sheared flow generated in a water tunnel. J Turbul 17:633–650. https://doi.org/10.1080/14685248.2016.1155713
von Carmer CF, Rummel AC, Jirka GH (2009) Mass transport in shallow turbulent wake flow by planar concentration analysis technique. J Hydraul Eng 135:257–270. https://doi.org/10.1061/(ASCE)0733-9429(2009)135:4(257)
Webster DR, Rahman S, Dasi LP (2003) Laser-induced fluorescence measurements of a turbulent plume. J Eng Mech 129:1130–1137. https://doi.org/10.1061/(ASCE)0733-9399(2003)129:10(1130)
Webster DR, Roberts PJW, Ra’ad L (2001) Simultaneous DPTV/PLIF measurements of a turbulent jet. Exp Fluids 30:65–72. https://doi.org/10.1007/s003480000137
Wilson DJ, Robins AG, Fackrell JE (1985) Intermittency and conditionally-averaged concentration fluctuation statistics in plumes. Atmos Environ 19:1053–1064. https://doi.org/10.1016/0004-6981(85)90189-1
Wolanski E, Imberger J, Heron ML (1984) Island wakes in shallow coastal waters. J Geophys Res Oceans 89:10553–10569. https://doi.org/10.1029/JC089iC06p10553
Yee E, Wilson DJ (2000) A comparison of the detailed structure in dispersing tracer plumes measured in grid-generated turbulence with a meandering plume model incorporating internal fluctuations. Bound Layer Meteorol 94:253–296. https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1002457317568
Yee E, Chan R, Kosteniuk PR, Chandler GM, Biltoft CA, Bowers JF (1994) Experimental measurements of concentration fluctuations and scales in a dispersing plume in the atmospheric surface layer obtained using a very fast response concentration detector. J Appl Meteorol 33:996–1016. https://doi.org/10.1175/1520-0450(1994)033%3c0996:EMOCFA%3e2.0.CO;2
Young DL, Webster DR, Larsson AI (2022) Structure and mixing of a meandering turbulent chemical plume. Turbulent mixing and eddy-diffusivity. Submitted.
Acknowledgements
The authors gratefully acknowledge financial support provided by the University of Gothenburg, the Swedish Research Council FORMAS (Dnr: 2012-1134), and the U.S. National Science Foundation via Grant OCE-1234449. Additionally, the authors thank Dr. Phil Roberts (Georgia Institute of Technology) for helpful discussions.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Additional information
Publisher's Note
Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Young, D.L., Larsson, A.I. & Webster, D.R. Structure and mixing of a meandering turbulent chemical plume: concentration and velocity fields. Exp Fluids 62, 240 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00348-021-03337-x
Received:
Revised:
Accepted:
Published:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00348-021-03337-x