UNSTEADY SELF-SIMILAR CONVECTION FROM A POINT SOURCE OF HEAT AND PASSIVE TRACER IN A NEUTRAL ATMOSPHERE

A. N. Vulfson

An integral model of an unsteady vertical convective plume is proposed which includes a universal equation of the rise of the upper boundary of a convective front as a function of the strength of a point heat source. A class of self-similar solutions is considered for heat and tracer sources produced by burning whose strength varies instantaneously and also by power and exponential laws. Analytical and numerical solutions of self-similar equations are obtained. The modeling results are compared with experimental profiles of vertical velocity and temperature on the plume centerline.