Porous thermal plume ($w=\beta (T-T_0)$)

A slender planar plume in a saturated porous medium has buoyancy velocity $w=\beta (T-T_0)$, with $\beta ={\rho }_{0}g\alpha \Pi /\mu$. The leading heat equation retains both advection components and lateral thermal conduction: $u{T}_x+w{T}_z=\kappa T_{xx}$. Its convective heat input per span is conserved, $F_h=C_h\int w(T-T_0)dx$. Defining $Q=\beta F_h/C_h$ gives width proportional to $z^{2/3}$ and vertical speed/temperature excess proportional to $z^{-1/3}$.

The symmetric steady porous thermal plume has $w=W{\mathrm{sech}}^2(x/b)$, $T-T_0=w/\beta$ and $\psi =-Wb\tanh (x/b)$. Its exact normalizations are $W{b}^2=6\kappa z$ and $(4/3)W^{2}b=Q$, so $b=(48{\kappa }^2{z}^2/Q{)}^{1/3}$ and $W=(3Q^2/(32\kappa z){)}^{1/3}$. The streamfunction supplies lateral entrainment required by continuity.

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.