VOL. 10, NO. 5, MAY 1973 J.

SPACECRAFT 341

Exhaust Cloud Rise and Growth for Apollo Saturn Engines

MICHAEL SUSKO* AND JOHN W. KAUFMAN|
NASA Marshall Space Flight Center, Huntsville Ala.

Empirical and analytical results have been reduced from time-lapse photographs of exhaust clouds during the
launch of Apollo 10, 14, 15, and 16 from the Kennedy Space Center. Theoretical predictions of the buoyant
cloud rise and growth compare very favorably to actual measurements. The mathematical model predicts with
engineering accuracy the terminal altitude and size of the clouds. A principal input to MSFC's multilayer
diffusion model is top height of the exhaust cloud. It is this characteristic dimension that is the main subject of
this report. An interesting occurrence during launch is the formation of bimodal exhaust cloud which is due to
the north-south oriented flame trench directly beneath the base of the vehicle. This study has added considerable
information on engine exhaust cloud rise and growth which is essential to the study of atmospheric dispersal in
time and space.

Nomenclature Launch Pad Structure

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Zm = maximum height of cloud, m

U = mean wind speed, m/sec
y = dimensionless entrainment constant where cloud radius
r{z} = yz
s = stability parameter (I/sec2)
g = gravitational acceleration = 9.806 m/sec2
T = ambient air temperature, °K
d6/8z = vertical potential temperature gradient, °K/m
F = flux of buoyant force (m4/sec3)
T = adiabatic lapse rate, (l°K/100m)
QH = heat emission due to efflux of hot gases, cal/sec
cp = specific heat of air = 0.24 cal/g°K
p = density of air, g/m3
V0 = efflux velocity, m/sec
/ = 0 (sec) time at lift-off
R = dimensionless ratio of efflux velocity to mean wind speed
Introduction
HE physical processes that take place when hot buoyant
T gases are introduced into the atmosphere are very complex
and these processes must be studied for a better understanding
of the dispersion of large amounts of gaseous by-products from
the ground cloud in order to predict their downwind concen-
trations in time and space. Reference 1 is an analysis of
exhaust cloud data obtained from twenty static engine tests
at the NASA Marshall Space Flight Center. References
2-5 also provide information of this nature, with Ref. 5
giving information on the Titan III C, which fires two solid
rockets at liftoff similar to NASA's planned Space Shuttle.
During aerospace engine testing and launching, large
amounts of gaseous by-products are released into the atmos-
phere. The exhaust clouds also contain a tremendous
amount of water vapor both from fuel oxidation and from
vaporization of the water that is sprayed onto the launch pad
for cooling purposes. Wind, wind shear, and turbulence and
vertical potential temperature gradient play a significant part
in the rise and growth of engine exhaust clouds. Time lapse
photographs of the launches of Apollo 10, 14, 15, and 16 were
taken every 2 sec by a special camera mounted on NASA's
Ground Wind Tower.6
Launch Complex 39A (Fig. 1) at the Kennedy Space
Center, the launch site of Apollo 10, 14, 15, and 16 is a
reinforced cellular concrete structure with an eight-sided
foundation built up in a "decreasing-in-area" manner to an
elevation of 14.6 m above sea level, or about 12.8 m above
natural grade. The longitudinal axis of the pad is oriented
North-South, with the crawlerway and ramp approaching
from the south on a 5 % grade. A flame trench 17.7 m across
(East-West) and 137 m long (North-South) bisects the pad.
The trench is about 13m deep and is open at the North end.
At the south end, a reinforced concrete incline extends from
the bottom of the trench to the top of the pad at a 21° gradient.
This incline causes the engine exhaust from the south end
of the flame trench to ascend at a more rapid rate than the
exhaust which exits from the north end. A flame deflector
is placed directly beneath each vehicle during launch to aid in
removing the hot exhausts from the flame trench more
rapidly. This wedge-shaped deflector has wheels which run
on tracks (north-south) at the bottom of the flame trench for
easy removal.
Environmental Effects of the Saturn S-IC Stage
The S-IC (first) stage of the Apollo Saturn vehicle is a
cylindrical booster 42m long and 10.1 m in diameter, with
five F-l rocket engines that produce a total thrust of 3.3 x
10 7 N.
Beginning at 8 min before liftoff, 5.02 x 102 kg/sec (8000
gal/min) of water is sprayed into the trench. By t + 2 min,
1.26 x 103 kg/sec (20,000 gal/min) of water is sprayed onto
the mobile launcher, launch pad, and into the trench for
cooling purposes. After ignition at t — 6 sec, the F-l engines
generate about 1.34 x 1010 cal/sec as actually measured
during static tests of these engines without water cooling.1*3
However, after evaporative cooling from the water spray
during initial launch, only about 1.27 x 1010 cal/sec of sensible
heat is present.

Received July 26, 1972; revision received January 31,1973. The
authors are indebtedtoW. W. Vaughan, who encouraged the prepara-
tion of this paper and J. H. Scollard of the Decentralized Computer
Section 2, Computation Laboratory, NASA Marshall Space Flight
Center, for programming.
Index category: Atmospheric, Space, and Oceanographic
Sciences.
*Aerospace Engineer. Charter Member AIAA.
fSupervisor, Aerospace Engineer, Chief, Atmospheric Dynamics
Branch.
Acquisition of Vehicle Exhaust Cloud Data
Time-lapse photographs of the exhaust clouds of Apollo
10, 14, 15, and 16 were taken by an Automax 35 mm, model
G-2 camera at 2-sec intervals. The camera was mounted at
the 40-m level on NASA's 150-m Ground Wind Tower,
located 5500m west-northwest of Launch Complex 39A.
The tower provides an excellent location from which to
photograph vehicle launchings and exhaust clouds. One
 342 M. SUSKO AND J. W. KAUFMAN
LOCATION OF
UMBILICAL
TOWER
NORTH *
R A I L S ON MOVABLE F L A M E DEFLECTOR
W H I C H FO
IS MOVED
N O T E : NOT TO SCALE
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Fig. 1 Cutaway view of Launch Complex 39A showing general configuration.
comment must be made at this point. Only one movie
camera was used. The movement and growth of the cloud
is affected by wind direction/wind shear effects which influ-
ences wind drift. A camera triangulation procedure will be
used for NASA's coming Space Shuttle program. Apollo 10
was launched at 1649 GMT on May 18, 1969; Apollo 14 was
launched at 2130 GMT on Jan. 31, 1971; Apollo 15 was
launched at 1334 GMT on July 26, 1971, and Apollo 16
lifted off at 1754Z on April 16, 1972.
Figure 2 is a photograph taken at t + 30 sec during the
initial launch of Apollo 14. The bright spot near the center
of the photograph is the flame from the F-l engines. The
cloud rise and growth rate data were extracted from the four
sequential sets of photographs by using scaling factors to
account for the distance between the camera and the clouds,
for the diameter of the top of the clouds, for time, etc.
Cloud Rise
Estimates of cloud rise for use in hazard calculations were
obtained from an expression due to Briggs,7 and the formula
agreed favorably with measured cloud rise rates from static
Fig. 2 Photograph of the bimodal engine exhaust cloud at T + 30
sec taken during launch of Apollo 14 vehicle.
J. SPACECRAFT
APOLLO SATURN
VEHICLE POSITION
ON PAD
FLAME INCLINE AT
SOUTH END OF
TRENCH
FLAME TRENCH
tests.1'2 The maximum cloud rise can be estimated with
sufficient accuracy from the expression
(1)
where F is equal to
gQnliTCppT (2)
and is the flux of buoyant force from the exhaust.
The_buoyant plume rise depends a great deal on the mean
wind £/, where the greater the intensity of the wind the lower
the height of the exhaust cloud. The value
s = (glT)de/8z (3)
is the stability parameter or the restoring acceleration per unit
vertical displacement in a stable atmosphere.
The vertical potential temperature gradient, dd/dz, was
evaluated for the launch of Apollo 14, 15, and 16. The
following equation was used
861 dz = (BIT) 3T/dz + g/Cp ~ 8T/dz + g/Cp (4)
where 0 is the potential temperature, T is the ambient tempera-
ture. The value g/Cp is the acceleration of gravity divided by
the specific heat at constant pressure. Note the value g/Cp is
equal to F. The vertical potential temperature gradients
calculated for the launch of Apollo 14, 15, and 16 were
0.0010°K/m, 0.0044°K/m and 0.0028°K/m. The wind speeds
were 11.8, 3.9, and 7.8 m/sec, respectively. The temperature
and winds were computed at 250 m altitude intervals to an
altitude at which the ground cloud stabilizes.
The difference in the mean heights of the Apollo 14, 15, and
16 exhaust clouds is related to this gradient (80 /8z) and the
wind speed. The greater the vertical potential gradient, the
lower the cloud rise.
One of the major findings of researchers in the field of plume
rise is that the radius of a plume bent over in a wind is approx-
imately proportional to the rise of the plume centerline above
its source height.7 Mathematically, this is expressed by
According to Refs. 7 and 8, the simple relationship of
Eq. (1) accounts very well for the great bulk of observed
plume rises, when it is used with appropriate conservative
assumptions. A value of 0.5 for y was chosen because of
observational values;1'2'4 Dumbauld, et al.,9 indicated this
 MAY 1973 EXHAUST CLOUD FOR APOLLO SATURN ENGINES 343

2.5n

2.0-

1.5-

1.0-

40 60 80
TIME (sec)
0.5-

Fig. 3 Entrainment constant as a function of time for Apollo 16.

50 100 150
value also provides the best fit of Eq. (1). See Fig. 3 and note TIME (sec)
that the two plumes converge as the bimodal cloud attains
stability at 0.5 in about 2 min. Fig. 4 Entrainment factors of buoyant cloud rise as a function of
Two relationships are pertinent to buoyant cloud behavior. time for Apollo 16.
One is the entrainment constant, y = r/z and the other is the
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ratio R= V0/U. Figure 4 illustrates the time relationships

where the ordinate is identified as the entrainment factors. It
is interesting to note that the values converge at about 0.50
at the height where the buoyancy is eventually overcome at
approximately 2 min.
Figure 5 is the fitted curves of the rise of the bimodal clouds
for Apollo 10, 14, 15, and 16. The greater rise vs time of the
right plume is due to the 21° inclination of the scmth end of the
concrete flame trench. However, the two clouds eventually
rise to an equal height at approximately 2 min and even unite
at the time they become stable with the ambient air. When
the buoyant force decreases to zero, cloud growth will continue
at a rate determined by the ambient turbulence. Thus,
beyond several minutes apparent rise is simply a continued
turbulent expansion.10 The rate at which buoyancy ap-
proaches zero is a function of both the entrainment rate and
ambient lapse rate or static stability.
Figure 6 shows the rate of exhaust cloud rise (A///AT) for
Apollo 14, 15, and 16. The ratio AJ^/Ar is significantly
greater for the right plume than the left plume. Such cloud
source information is necessary in the determination of
downwind concentrations of the exhaust gases in time and
space. The height of the cloud stabilization for Apollo 15

2000 n

—— - RIGHT PLUME
——— LEFT PLUME

1500-

1000-

500-

NOTE RIGHT PLUME FROM SOUTH END

OF FLAME TRENCH
LEFT PLUME FROM NORTH END
OF FLAME TRENCH

20 40 60 80 100 120
TIME ( s e c )

Fig. 5 Comparison of rise histories of bimodal exhaust cloud

plumes as a function of time.
 344 M. SUSKO AND J. W. KAUFMAN J. SPACECRAFT

80-i
IDENTIFICATION OF BI-MODAL
PLUME RISE RATES

60- APOLLO 14

APOLLO 15

APOLLO 16 J 1.5- ——— RIGHT PLUME

-—— LEFT PLUME

> RIGHT PLUMES
20- 5 1.0-

LEFT PLUMES

20 40 60 80 100 120 140

TIME (sec)

TIME (minutes)
Fig. 6 Rates of rise of exhaust clouds as a function of time.

was the greatest of the four cases studied. As seen from Fig. 5, Fig. 8 Rise history of bimodal exhaust ground cloud vs time for
the difference in the average height of the exhaust clouds of Apollo 16 on April 16,1972 (1754Z) at KSC, Fla.
Apollo 14 and 15 at 14-120 sec is about 600 m. This differ-
ence was determined from the photographic data using an
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average cloud height of 1850 m for Apollo 15 and 1250 m for

Apollo 14. The rise and growth data for Apollo 10 terminated
at 40 sec after launch because background atmospheric
cloudiness and haze were so pronounced that the contrast
of the exhaust cloud with the background diminished very
rapidly as the rising cloud diffused.
Prior to the launch of Apollo 16, it was necessary to predict
the height of the Apollo 16 ground cloud from Apollo 10, 14,
and 15 data in order to vector in the aircraft to sample the
exhaust materials in the cloud. Using Eq. (1) and t — 6 hrs
39 min (1115Z) radiosonde data, the meteorological inputs
used were a temperature of 294°K, dd/dz of 0.0055°K/m,
U of 7.0 and y of 0.5 to predict the Apollo 16 ground cloud
height of 2000 m. Two aircraft carrying samplers traversed
the visible ground cloud at an altitude of 1830-2130m
(6000-7000 ft) up to an hour after launch. Figures 7 and 8
are the measurements of the diameter and altitude of Apollo
16's ground cloud at t — 0 through / + 6 min. The terminal
altitude of 2000 m and a 2000 m diam of the ground cloud
was used as the initial conditions for MSFC multilayer
diffusion model to predict the growth and disposition of the
cloud from which prediction of ground level concentrations
were calculated.
(i.e., near the top of the plume as it rises) to the extreme
outer left edge of the left plume from the 2-sec time-lapse
sequential photographs. As stated earlier, the initial bimodal
exhaust clouds eventually combine at the height at which
they become environmentally stable with the ambient air.
Curves A, B, C, and D are the empirically fitted curves of the
horizontal growth of the clouds from Apollo 10, 14, 15, and
16, respectively. The extreme curves which enclose the
shaded area E are the empirical horizontal cloud growth data.
Special Remarks
An in-depth treatment9 on the atmospheric dispersion of
aerospace vehicle exhaust by-products is available in the
literature. This report includes multilayer diffusion models
for assessing estimates of downwind concentrations of exhaust
RANGE OF HORIZONTAL GROWTH
2800 R A T E S FOR 5 F-1 ENGINES

Horizontal Exhaust Cloud Growth ACTUAL LAUNCH

2400-
DATA FROM
The vehicle engine exhaust clouds horizontal growth with A P O L L O 15
time is shown in Fig. 9. The horizontal distances were
measured from the extreme right outer edge of the right plume 2000-

1600-

1200-

A C T U A L LAUNCH
800- DATA FROM
APOLLO 10

400

20 40 60 100
TIME (sec)
Fig. 7 Horizontal growth of ground cloud vs time for Apollo 16
on April 16,1972 (1754Z) at KSC, Florida. Fig. 9 Horizontal vehicle engine exhaust growth with time.
 MAY 1973 EXHAUST CLOUD FOR APOLLO SATURN ENGINES
components for the Kennedy Space Center area. The
characteristic of atmospheric turbulence for the KSC area,11
is required knowledge for use with dispersion principles.
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Conclusion
This report relates some of the factors of rise rates and cloud
growth which show the dynamic behavior of aerospace
engine exhaust by-products.
The greater rise vs time of the right plume to the left plume
from the north-south flame trench of the launch pad is due
to the 21° incline at the south end of the flame trench. The
two plumes converge as the bimodal cloud attains stability
in about 2 min and the buoyant forces decrease to zero.
Cloud rise, the rise of continuous emission of gases from space
vehicles above its source height, is often the most influential
input into MSFC's multilayer diffusion model. From the
experience gained from the analyses of the static tests at
MSFC and observed data from Apollo 10, 14, and 15, a
favorable prediction of 2000 m for the cloud height for
Apollo 16 was made. Two aircraft carrying samplers
traversed the mobile ground cloud 1830 to 2130m, up to an
hour after launch.
The basic inputs of vertical potential temperature gradients,
source strength, wind, and an entrainment constant of 0.5
were used satisfactorily in Eq. (1) to predict the cloud height.
The equation to predict maximum cloud height tends to give
slightly high values, so further work is continuing to improve
the prediction procedures. This work includes the effects of
turbulent intensity and wind shear.
These findings provide aerodynamicists, thermodynamicists,
atmospheric physicists and others with insight on the behavior
of engine exhaust clouds. Such information is particularly
valuable when toxic exhaust by-products are released.
345
References
1
Susko, M., Kaufman, J. W., and Hill, K., "Rise Rate and
Growth of Static Test Vehicle Engine Exhaust Clouds," TM
X-53782, Aero-Astrodynamics Research Review No. 7, Oct. 15,
1968, NASA, pp. 146-166.
2
Thayer, S. D., Chandler, M. W., and Chu, R. T., "Rise and
Growth of Space Vehicle Engine Exhaust and Associated Diffusion
Models," CR-61331, July 1970, NASA.
3
Smith, M. R. and Forbes, R. E., "Mass-Energy Balance for an
S-IC Rocket Exhaust Cloud During Static Firing," CR-61357,
Aug. 4, 1971, NASA.
4
Susko, M. and Kaufman, J. W., "Apollo Saturn Engine Exhaust
Cloud Rise and Growth Phenomena During Initial Launch," paper
presented at Research Achievement Review, Dec. 2, 1971, NASA
Marshall Space Flight Center, Huntsville, Ala.
5
Hart, W. S., "Dynamics of Large Buoyant Clouds Generated by
Rocket Launches," Transactions of the ASME: Journal of Basic
Engineering, Vol. 94, No. 1, March 1972, pp. 53-55.
6
Kaufman, J. W. and Keene, L. F., "NASA's 150-Meter
Meteorological Tower Located at the Kennedy Space Center,
Florida," TM X-53699, Jan. 29, 1968, NASA.
7
Briggs, G. A., "Some Recent Analyses of Plume Rise Observa-
tions," Paper 38, 1970, Atmospheric Turbulence and Diffusion
Lab., National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Oak
Ridge, Tenn.
8
Hanna, S. R. "Cooling Tower Plume Rise and Condensation,"
paper presented at the Air Pollution Turbulence and Diffusion
Symposium, Dec. 7-10, 1971, Las Cruces, New Mex.
9
Dumbauld, R. K., Bjorklund, J. R., Cramer, M. E., and
Record, F. A., "Handbook for Estimating Toxic Fuel Hazards,"
NASA CR-61326, April 1970, GCA Corp., Bedford, Mass.
10
Church, H. W., "Cloud Rise from High-Explosives Detona-
tions," TID-45000 (53rd Ed) UC-41, Health & Safety, SC-RR-68-
903, June 1969, Sandia Lab., Albuquerque, N. Mex.
11
Fichtl, G. H., Kaufman, J. W., and Vaughan, W. W., "Charac-
teristics of Atmospheric Turbulence as Related to Wind Loads on
Tall Structures," Journal Spacecraft and Rockets, Vol. 6, No. 12,
Dec. 1969, pp. 1396-1403.