Heat-weighted head speed of a porous plume (${\dot{Z}}_h\simeq \frac{2}{3}W(Z_h)$)

Truncating the steady porous thermal plume profile below a head height and conserving supplied heat gives ${\dot{Z}}_h\simeq \int w^{2}dx/\int wdx=(2/3)W(Z_h)$. Thus $Z_h\propto t^{3/4}$. This is an integral bulk-head estimate, while fastest centreline parcels have characteristic speed $W$; the approximation does not resolve the transient nose.