An asymptotic solution for slightly buoyant laminar plumes

Abstract

When the buoyancy forces are small compared with the inertia forces, heated plumes in laminar flows which are uniform at upstream infinity approximately satisfy a linearized version of the Boussinesq equations, here called the Oseen–Boussinesq equations. An analytic solution is constructed for arbitrary Prandtl number and arbitrary direction of the unperturbed flow in the case of a plume produced by a point source. The two-dimensional case of the plume from a line source is considered briefly. A Stokes-type paradox occurs: it is found that a line-source solution that vanishes at infinity does not exist.