Turbulent gravitational convection from maintained and instantaneous sources

Abstract

Theories of convection from maintained and instantaneous sources of buoyancy are developed, using methods which are applicable to stratified body fluids with any variation of density with height; detailed solutions have been presented for the case of a stably stratified fluid with a linear density gradient. The three main assumptions involved are (i) that the profiles of vertical velocity and buoyancy are similar at all heights, (ii) that the rate of entrainment of fluid at any height is proportional to a characteristic velocity at that height, and (iii) that the fluids are incompressible and do not change volume on mixing, and that local variations in density throughout the motion are small compared to some reference density. The governing equations are derived in non-dimensional form from the conditions of conservation of volume, momentum and buoyancy, and a numerical solution is obtained for the case of the maintained source, This leads to a prediction of the final height to which a plume of light fluid will rise in a stably stratified fluid. Estimates of the constant governing the rate of entrainment are made by comparing the theory with some previous results in uniform fluids, and with the results of new experiments carried out in a stratified salt solution. For the case of an instantaneous source of buoyancy there is an exact solution; the entrainment constant is again estimated from laboratory results for a stratified fluid Finally, the analysis is applied to the (compressible) atmosphere, by making the customary substitution of potential temperature for temperature. Predictions are made of the height to which smoke plumes from typical sources of heat should rise in a still, stably stratified atmosphere under various conditions.