The turbulent wall plume from a vertically distributed source of buoyancy

Abstract

We experimentally investigate the turbulent wall plume that forms next to a uniformly distributed source of buoyancy. Our experimental results are compared with the theoretical model and experiments of Cooper & Hunt (J. Fluid Mech., vol. 646, 2010, pp. 39–58). Our experiments give a top-hat entrainment coefficient of $0.048\pm 0.006$. We measure a maximum vertical plume velocity that follows the scaling predicted by Cooper & Hunt but is significantly smaller. Our measurements allow us to construct a turbulent plume model that predicts all plume properties at any height. We use this plume model to calculate plume widths, velocities and Reynolds numbers for typical dissolving icebergs and ice fronts and for a typical room with a heated or cooled vertical surface.