Mixture Fraction Statistics of Plane Self-Preserving Buoyant Turbulent Adiabatic Wall Plumes

Measurements of the mixture fraction properties of plane buoyant turbulent adiabatic wall plumes (adiabatic wall plumes) are described, emphasizing conditions far from the source where self-preserving behavior is approximated. The experiments involved helium/air mixtures rising along a smooth, plane and vertical wall. Mean and fluctuating mixture fractions were measured using laser-induced iodine fluorescence. Self-preserving behavior was observed 92–155 source widths above the source, yielding smaller normalized plume widths and near-wall mean mixture fractions than earlier measurements. Self-preserving adiabatic wall plumes mix slower than comparable free line plumes (which have 58 percent larger normalized widths) because the wall prevents mixing on one side and inhibits large-scale turbulent motion. Measurements of probability density functions, temporal power spectra, and temporal integral scales of mixture fraction fluctuations are also reported.