Vertical dispersion of dust particles in a turbulent boundary layer

The flow of glass dust particles in air was investigated experimentally over a flat bed in a wind tunnel. Particle concentrations were measured by light scattering diffusion (LSD) and digital image processing. It was verified that saltation is the main mechanism for ejection of dust particles. Vertical mean dust concentrations for 'pure dust' and two mixtures of dust and saltating glass particles were determined and analysed. The experiments confirmed that for the 'pure dust' configuration the mean concentration decreases as a power function with height. For the mixture configurations and for free stream velocities close to the threshold velocity, the mean concentration also decreases in a power function. For higher velocities, mean concentration decreases respectively as a power function or exponential function for large and small ratios of the dust:saltating particles respectively. The exponent of the power law reflects the dust:particle ratio and the free stream flow velocity. Copyright (C) 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.