Analysis of spectral radiative heat transfer in furnaces using an efficient computational technique

Abstract

Modeling of radiative heat transfer in participating media has significant applications in science and engineering. Neglect of scattering, emission and absorption of radiant energy by tiny particles and other gases in pulverized coal gasifiers or combustors results in serious errors in total heat flux. Recently, an efficient computational technique for solving the radiative transfer equations for the participating media has been devised (Park and Kim, JQSRT, 1997, 58(1), 115–126), which is as accurate as the S 4 method but consumes much less computer time. In the present paper, we reinterpret this new algorithm regarding its efficiency and accuracy and extend it to a realistic case where the spectral variations in the radiative properties are taken into consideration. The spectral distribution of radiation is subdivided into a finite number of bands within which the properties are assumed uniform. Solutions are found for each band employing the present technique, and are summed to obtain the total contribution. The results based on this new algorithm are benchmarked with those based on other methods such as S 4 method, and are found to be accurate as well as efficient in the cases of spectral radiative heat transfer analyses.