Heat Transfer Characteristics of Porous Radiant Burners Using Discrete-Ordinate Method (S2-Approximation)

This paper describes a theoretical study to investigate the heat transfer characteristics of porous radiant burners. A one dimensional model is used to solve the governing equations for porous medium and gas flow before the premixed flame to the exhaust gas. Combustion in the porous medium is modeled as a spatially dependent heat generation zone. The homogeneous porous media, in addition to its convective heat exchange with the gas, may absorb, emit and scatter thermal radiation. The radiation effect in the gas flow is neglected but the conductive heat transfer is considered. In order to analyze the thermal characteristics of porous burners, the coupled energy equations for the gas and porous medium based on the discrete ordinate method are solved numerically and the effect of various parameters on the performance of porous radiant burners are examined. Comparison between the present results with those obtained by other investigators shows a good agreement.