←
Boss lesson · The Stack Test
Exam-hall rules, one source end to end
score 0

Exam-hall rules, one source end to end

This is the boss. No calculator. Tonight g=10 m/s2g = 10\ \mathrm{m/s^2}, the bore area comes pre-rounded, the buoyancy flux lands on a perfect cube, the downwind distance is 1000 m so x2/3x^{2/3} is exactly 100, the effective height comes out at exactly twice σz\sigma_z so the exponent is −2-2, and e−2e^{-2} is handed to you as 0.135. The product πσyσzu\pi \sigma_y \sigma_z u is pre-multiplied on the sheet. Everything is chosen to fit in your head.

One source, five lines, and every answer feeds the next: flow and bore to exit velocity, exit velocity and the temperature difference to buoyancy flux, flux and distance and wind to plume rise, rise plus steel to effective height, and effective height into the exponential that decides what reaches the ground. Write each line down as you go — a slip at the top rides all the way to the fence, and it rides in squared.

Note what the last line actually asks. It does not want another number; it wants a decision: does this source comply at the nearest residence, yes or no. The arithmetic exists only to earn you the right to make it. Watch for the trap the whole chapter has been building — the steel on its own is rarely enough, and it is the plume rise that decides which side of the limit the answer lands on.

Everything in the chapter rides in this one stack. 5★ under par here is the chapter crown. Clock in.

dQvvs

vs=4Qvπd2v_s = \frac{4 Q_v}{\pi d^2}

  • vsv_s= Stack exit velocity (speed)
  • QvQ_v= Volumetric flow (volumetric flow rate)
  • dd= Stack inside diameter (length)
Stack Exit Velocity solver →
vsdTsFTa

F=g vs d2(Ts−Ta)4 TsF = \frac{g \, v_s \, d^2 (T_s - T_a)}{4 \, T_s}

  • FF= Buoyancy flux (m⁴/s³)
  • vsv_s= Stack exit velocity (speed)
  • dd= Stack inside diameter (length)
  • TsT_s= Stack gas temperature (temperature)
  • TaT_a= Ambient temperature (temperature)
Briggs Buoyancy Flux solver →
ΔhxuF

Δh=1.6 F1/3x2/3u\Delta h = \frac{1.6 \, F^{1/3} x^{2/3}}{u}

  • Δh\Delta h= Plume rise (length)
  • FF= Buoyancy flux (m⁴/s³)
  • xx= Downwind distance (length)
  • uu= Wind speed at stack height (speed)
Briggs Plume Rise (Neutral and Unstable) solver →
hsΔhH

H=hs+ΔhH = h_s + \Delta h

  • HH= Effective stack height
  • hsh_s= Physical stack height
  • Δh\Delta h= Plume rise

each variable a length

Effective Stack Height solver →
HQuσzσyC

C=Qπσyσzu e−H2/(2σz2)C = \frac{Q}{\pi \sigma_y \sigma_z u} \, e^{-H^{2}/(2\sigma_z^{2})}

  • CC= Ground-level concentration (density)
  • QQ= Emission rate (mass flow rate)
  • σy\sigma_y= Crosswind spread (length)
  • σz\sigma_z= Vertical spread (length)
  • uu= Wind speed at stack height (speed)
  • HH= Effective stack height (length)
Gaussian Plume Ground-Level Concentration solver →
no calculator in the boss room — the numbers are chosen to fit in your head