ANSYS CFX Radiation

Radiation Theory
Introduction
The topic(s) in this section include:
• Radiation Transport (p. 263)
• Rosseland Model (p. 268)
• The P1 Model (p. 269)
• Discrete Transfer Model (p. 270)
• Monte Carlo Model (p. 271)
• Spectral Models (p. 272)
This chapter contains a simple summary of the theory of thermal radiation and the
algorithms used in ANSYS CFX. Details on modeling radiation in ANSYS CFX are available.
For details, see Radiation Modeling (p. 289 in "ANSYS CFX-Solver Modeling Guide").
Radiation Transport
The goal of radiation modeling is to solve the radiation transport equation, obtain the
source term, S, for the energy equation, and the radiative heat flux at walls, among others
quantities of interest. You should restrict yourself to coherent time-independent radiation
processes. This is normally a very good approximation of situations likely to be met in
industrial applications because the time scale for radiation to come into local equilibrium is
very short and the temperatures are relatively low.
The spectral radiative transfer equation (RTE) can be written as:
dI ν ( r, s )
---------------------
ds
(Eqn. 1)
⎛ K sν ⎞
= ⎜ – ( K aν + K sν )I ν ( r, s ) + K aν I b ( ν, T ) + -------- ∫ dI ν ( r, s' )Φ ( s • s' ) dΩ' + S⎟
⎝ 4π ⎠
4π
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Radiation Theory: Radiation Transport
where:
• v = frequency
• r = position vector
• s = direction vector
• s = path length
• Ka = absorption coefficient
• Ks = scattering coefficient
• I b = Blackbody emission intensity
• I ν = Spectral radiation intensity which depends on position (r) and direction (s)
• T = local absolute temperature
• Ω = solid angle
• Φ = in-scattering phase function
• S = radiation intensity source term
The RTE is a first order integro-differential equation for Iv in a fixed direction, s. To solve this
equation within a domain, a boundary condition for Iv is required. The following are the
boundary conditions currently supported in ANSYS CFX:
• Diffusely emitting and reflecting opaque boundaries
ρw ( r w )
I ν ( r w, s ) = ε ν ( r w )I b ( ν, T ) + -----------------
π ∫ I ν ( r w, s' ) n • s' dΩ' (Eqn. 2)
n • s' < 0
where ε ν =spectral emissivity.
• Diffusely emitting and specularly reflecting boundaries

I ν ( r w, s )
d
⎛ ρν ( r w ) s ⎞ (Eqn. 3)
= ⎜ ε ν ( r w )I b ( ν, T ) + ---------------- ∫ I ν ( r w, s' ) n • s' dΩ' + ρ ν ( r w )I ν ( r w, s s )⎟
⎝ π ⎠
n • s' < 0
where:
d
• ρ ν =diffuse reflectivity= ( 1 – ε ν ) *diffuse fraction
s
• ρ ν =specular reflectivity= ( 1 – ε ν ) *(1-diffuse fraction)
d s
• ρ ν =spectral reflectivity= ρ ν + ρ ν = ( 1 – ε ν )
• s s =specular direction
• Semi-transparent walls (Monte Carlo only)
Due to the dependence on 3 spatial coordinates, 2 local direction coordinates, s, and
frequency, the formal solution of the radiative transfer equation is very time consuming and
usually accomplished by the use of approximate models for the directional and spectral
Page 264 ANSYS CFX-Solver Theory Guide. ANSYS CFX Release 11.0. © 1996-2006 ANSYS Europe, Ltd. All rights reserved.
dependencies. For directional approximations, ANSYS CFX includes Rosseland, P-1,
Discrete Transfer and Monte Carlo. For spectral approximations, ANSYS CFX includes:
Gray, Multiband and Weighted Sum of Gray Gases.
Blackbody Emission
The energy spectrum for radiation emitted by a blackbody is represented by:
2 2
2πv n hv –2 –1
E b ( ν, T ) = -----------
2 ( hv ⁄ k B T )
- [ W m H z ] = πI b ( ν, T )
----------------------------- (Eqn. 4)
c e –1
where:
• n = refractive index
• h = Planck’s constant
• c = speed of light in vacuum
• k B = Boltzmann’s constant
Writing x = hv ⁄ k B T , you have:
3
4 h ⎛ 15 x ⎞
E b ( x, T ) = n σT ⎛ -------⎞ ⎜ ----4- ------------
2
-⎟ (Eqn. 5)
⎝ kT ⎠ ⎝ x
π e – 1⎠
where σ = Stefan-Boltzmann constant:
5
2π k 4
σ ≡ ---------------
3 2
- (Eqn. 6)
15h c
The total blackbody emission is simply the integral of E b over all frequencies:
∞
2 4
Eb ( T ) = ∫ E b ( x , T ) dx = n σT (Eqn. 7)
0
Note that the blackbody emission is proportional to the fourth power of the temperature
and because of this strong dependence, radiation is usually unimportant or totally
dominant for heat transfer.
The sun, for example, is approximately a blackbody at a temperature of 5700 K. The
spectrum peaks in the yellow part of the visible spectrum.
ANSYS CFX-Solver Theory Guide. ANSYS CFX Release 11.0. © 1996-2006 ANSYS Europe, Ltd. All rights reserved. Page 265
Combustion temperatures are typically 1000 - 2000 K, with spectrum peaks in the near
infra-red range. Note that the peak of the spectrum as a function of wavelength is at:
hv ∼ 4k B T (Eqn. 8)
Quantities of Interest
The spectral radiative heat flux, q v , passing through a surface at some location r with a unit
vector normal n is:
R
q ν ( r, n ) = ∫ ( s • n )I ν ( r, s ) dΩs (Eqn. 9)
Integrating the equation of transfer over solid angles, the divergence of the spectral
radiative heat flux is given by:
R
( – ∇•q ν ) = K a ( G ν – 4E bν ) (Eqn. 10)
where Gv is the spectral incident radiation, given by:
G ν ≡ ∫ I ν dΩ s (Eqn. 11)
The total radiative flux is obtained by integrating (Eqn. 10) over the spectrum:
R ∞ R ∞ ∞
∇•q = ∫0 qν dν = ∫0 K av Gv dv – 4 ∫0 K av Ebν dv (Eqn. 12)
R
In the case of pure scattering, K a = 0 . Therefore ∇•q = 0 , as it should since in this case
no energy is lost from the radiation field; clearly this is also true in thermodynamic
equilibrium.
Optical Optical thickness is a measure of the ability of a given path length of gas to attenuate
Thickness radiation of a given wavelength. Optical thickness is given by:
S
κλ( S ) = ∫0 K λ ( S* ) dS* (Eqn. 13)
where κ λ ( S ) is the optical thickness (or opacity) of the layer of thickness S and is a function
of all the values of K λ between 0 and S . A large optical thickness means large attenuation.
Radiation Through Domain Interfaces

If radiation is included through conducting solids, then usually the difference in refractive
indices between the fluid and solid determines the amount of reflection and refraction that
occurs. The probability of being reflected is given by Fresnels’ equation
2 2
1 tan ( θ 1 – θ 2 ) sin ( θ 1 – θ 2 )
ρ = -- -------------------------------
- + -------------------------------- (Eqn. 14)
2 tan 2 ( θ + θ ) sin 2 ( θ + θ )
1 2 1 2
The fraction of the electromagnetic wave that is reflected normally depends on the
polarization of the photon. ANSYS CFX does not keep track of photon polarizations.
Assuming that the photons are randomly polarized, then it is sufficient to take the average
result. The two extreme polarizations are termed transverse electric (TE) and transverse
magnetic (TM), and describe the orientations of the electric and magnetic vectors relative to
the interface.
For the TE mode, the ratio of reflected to incident wave amplitude (EE) is given by:
n1
----- cos θ – cos φ
n2
E E = -----------------------------------
- (Eqn. 15)
n1
----- cos θ + cos φ
n2
and for the TM mode the ratio of reflected to incident wave amplitude ( E M ) is given by:
n1
----- cos φ – cos θ
n2
EM = -----------------------------------
- (Eqn. 16)
n1
----- cos φ + cos θ
n2
where θ and φ are the incident and refracted angles, and n 1 and n 2 are the refractive
indices of the two media.
The probability of being reflected is determined by the energy flow at the interface which is
proportional to the square of the wave amplitude. Thus, the average reflection coefficient is
given as:
2 2
0.5 ( E E + E M ) (Eqn. 17)
and the probability of being transmitted is:
2 2
1 – 0.5 ( E E + E M ) (Eqn. 18)
Radiation Theory: Rosseland Model
No absorption takes place at the interface, so the probability of transmission plus reflection
is always one. If the photon is transmitted, then the angle of refraction is determined by
Snells’ law:
sin φ n
----------- = ----2- (Eqn. 19)
sin θ n1
ANSYS CFX performs these calculations at every radiation element boundary, although, in
most cases, there is no change of refractive index.
Rosseland Model
The Rosseland approximation is a simplification of the Radiative Transport Equation (RTE)
for the case of optically thick media. It introduces a new diffusion term into the original
energy transport equation with a strongly temperature-dependent diffusion coefficient.
A good source for the simplification of the Radiation Transport Equation for the optically
thick limit can be seen in Siegel and Howe [23]. The total radiative heat flux in an optically
thick, and linearly anisotropic scattering medium can be written as:
∞ 4
q r = – ∫ ----------------------∇E bv dv (Eqn. 20)
0 3β – CK s
where β is the extinction coefficient (i.e., absorption plus scattering).

When the Rosseland Approximation is introduced into the energy transport equation, the
conduction and radiative heat flux can be combined as:
q = qc + qr (Eqn. 21)
= – ( k + k r )∇T (Eqn. 22)
2 3
16σn T
where k r = – ---------------------- (Eqn. 23)
3β
where k is the thermal conductivity and k r is the “total radiative conductivity.” (Eqn. 21) is
called upon to calculate the temperature field in the energy equation.
Radiation Theory: The P1 Model
Wall Treatment
The Rosseland approximation is not valid near walls. Therefore, a special boundary
condition must be specified when heat conduction is comparable to radiation heat transfer.
It has been proposed [24] that a temperature slip boundary condition should be in this
region. From [24] the heat flux at the wall, q r, w is given by:
4 4
–σ ( T w – T g )
q r, w = ------------------------------- (Eqn. 24)
ψ
where ψ is the slip co-efficient, T w is the wall temperature and T g is the gas temperature
at the wall. ψ is computed as the solution of:
1
3 1
ψ = ------ ∫ atan ----- dφ (Eqn. 25)
4π φv
0
where φ v is given by:
1 βk 2 1–φ
φ v = --- --------------------- – --- – ln ------------ (Eqn. 26)
π 3 3 φ 1 +φ
8φ σT
w
The P1 Model
The Differential Approximation or P1 is also a simplification of the Radiation Transport
Equation, which assumes that the radiation intensity is isotropic or direction independent
at a given location in space. The full form of the radiant energy equation and the derivation
of the P1 model for radiation are given in Raithby [8]. Only a brief summary will be given
here.
The spectral radiative heat flux in the diffusion limit for an emitting, absorbing, and linearly
scattering medium, can be computed as:
1
q rv = – -------------------------------------------------- ∇G ν (Eqn. 27)
3 ( K av – K sv ) – AK sv
Radiation Theory: Discrete Transfer Model
The equation for the spectral incident radiation that results from substituting the above
terms into the radiation transport equation:
1
– ∇•⎛ -------------------------------------------------- ∇G v⎞ = K av ( E bv – G v ) (Eqn. 28)
⎝ 3 ( K av – K sv ) – AK sv ⎠
where A is the linear anisotropy coefficient.
Wall Treatment
Assuming that the radiation intensity arriving at and leaving a wall are directionally
independent, the boundary condition for (Eqn. 28) at walls is:
1 ∂G v εv
n ⋅ q rv = – -------------------------------------------------- --------+- = --------------------- [ E bv – G v ] (Eqn. 29)
3 ( K av – K sv ) – AK sv ∂n 2 ( 2 – εv ) w
+
where n is the unit vector outward normal to the wall, n is a distance coordinate in the
same direction, and w represents the value at the wall.
Discrete Transfer Model

The implementation of the Discrete Transfer model in ANSYS CFX assumes that the
scattering is isotropic; therefore, (Eqn. 1) can be simplified as:
dI ν ( r, s ) K sν
--------------------- = – ( K aν + K sν )I ν ( r, s ) + K a I b ( ν, T ) + -------- ∫ I ν ( r, s' ) dΩ' + S (Eqn. 30)
ds 4π
4π
Assuming that the system is reasonably homogeneous, so that:
R R
I ν ( r ) ∼ I ν ( r + dr ) q ν ( r ) ∼ q ν ( r + dr ) (Eqn. 31)
the approach is then to solve for the intensity, I ν , along rays leaving from the boundaries
using the equation of transfer:
I ν ( r, s ) = I νo exp ( – ( K aν + K sν )s ) + I bv ( 1 – exp ( – K a s ) ) + K sν I v (Eqn. 32)
where:
I νo = Radiation Intensity leaving the boundary
I ν = Mean Radiation Intensity
Radiation Theory: Monte Carlo Model
Then, integrate I over solid angle at discrete points to get the spectral incident radiation, G
and the radiative heat flux, q r and use the homogeneity assumption to extend the solution
to the entire domain. Non-linearities in the system due to scattering, diffuse reflection, or
temperature dependency of radiation quantities is overcome by iteration.
Since the objective of thermal radiation modeling is to obtain the total volumetric
absorption and emission, additional calculations are still needed. For the Gray spectral
model, the calculation is done once for a unique radiation intensity field. For the Multiband
and Multigray/Weighted Sum of Gray Gases, the solution must be computed for each
spectral band/ gray gas and a final integration to obtain the total radiation quantities is
required. Under the assumption of coherent radiation field, ie., the solution at a given
frequency is independent of that at all other frequencies.
Monte Carlo Model

The Monte Carlo model assumes that the intensity is proportional to the differential angular
flux of photons and you can think of the radiation field as a photon gas. For this gas, K a is
the probability per unit length that a photon is absorbed at a given frequency. Therefore,
the mean radiation intensity, I is proportional to the distance traveled by a photon in unit
volume at r , in unit time.
R
Similarly q v is proportional to the rate of incidence of photons on the surface at r , since
volumetric absorption is proportional to the rate of absorption of photons.
By following a typical selection of photons and tallying, in each volume element, the
distance traveled, you can obtain the mean total intensity.
distance times the absorption coefficient, you can obtain the mean total absorbed intensity.
distance times the scattering coefficient, you can obtain the mean total scattered intensity.
By also tallying the number of photons incident on a surface and this number times the
emissivity, you obtain the mean total radiative flux and the mean absorbed flux.
Note that no discretization of the spectrum is required since differential quantities are not
usually important for heat transfer calculations. Providing that the spectral (Multiband or
Multigray) selection is done properly, the Monte Carlo tallying automatically integrates over
the spectrum.
Radiation Theory: Spectral Models
Spectral Models
The radiation intensity field is also a function of the spectrum as shown in (Eqn. 1). In order
to make the spectral dependence tractable in conjunction with a flow calculation, ANSYS
CFX supports three different models for the spectral dependency of the radiative transfer
equation: Gray, Multiband and Multigray/Weighted Sum of Gray Gases.
Gray
The Gray model assumes that all radiation quantities are nearly uniform throughout the
spectrum, consequently the radiation intensity is the same for all frequencies. Then, the
dependency of (Eqn. 1) on frequency can be dropped.
This implies that only one radiative transfer equation must be solved and that all total
radiation quantities and their spectral counterpart are the same.
Multiband Model
For this model, the spectrum is sub-divided into N spectral bands of finite width where
radiative quantities are nearly uniform or can be averaged without losing accuracy. These
bands should span the thermal radiation section of the spectrum. It is assumed that the
value at a given spectral band is represented by the spectral band midpoint value in
frequency domain.
ANSYS CFX assumes that the main spectral variable is frequency, since it is independent of
the material refractive index and it will facilitate the setup of multidomain problems. Other
spectral variables, such wavelength and wavenumber would be available for vacuum only.
Then, the radiative transfer equation is integrated within is spectral band and a modified
RTE is obtained:
d∆νI ∆ν ( r, s )
------------------------------- = – ( K aν + K sν )∆νI ∆ν ( r, s ) + K a F ∆ν I b ( T ) + (Eqn. 33)
ds
K sν
-------- ∫ ∆νI ∆ν ( r, s' )Φ ( s • s' ) dΩ' + S
4π
4π
for ∆νI ∆ν , where the emission within the spectral band is weighted by:
ν2 ν2 ν1
F ∆ν = ∫ν Eb ( ν, T ) dν
1
= ∫0 E b ( ν, T ) dν – ∫ E b ( ν, T ) dν
0
(Eqn. 34)
After solving one RTE per spectral band, total radiation intensity can be computed as:
N
I ( r, s ) = ∑ ∆νI ∆ν ( r, s ) (Eqn. 35)
1
This immediately suggests that for an N -band model, N times as much work is required as
for a grey, I -band model. In the case of the Discrete Transfer model, for small N this turns
out not to be true because the tracking of the rays through the geometry is a major one-off
overhead.
This model can be used in conjunction with all available radiation models.
Multigray Model
The radiative absorption and emission from a gas can be characterized by the emissivity as
a function of temperature and pL, that is the product of the partial pressure and the path
length. In the context of typical combustion systems, the dominant emitters of radiation are
carbon dioxide and water vapor (although hydrocarbons, CO and SO2 also make a minor
contribution). Hottel and Sarofim [48] have published emissivity charts for CO2 and H2O that
have been obtained by a combination of measurement and extrapolation. These plots show
that emissivity is strongly dependent on pL and also has a weaker dependence on the gas
temperature. This functional dependence can be accurately correlated by assuming that the
emissivity arises as the result of independent emission from a sufficient number of gray
gases:
Ng
– k i Lp
εg = ∑ a gi ( 1 – e ) (Eqn. 36)
i=1
Since emissivity must be proportional to absorptivity by Kirchoffs’ law, it follows that ε g
must approach unity as pL → ∞ . This imposes a constraint on the gray gas weights or
amplitudes:
Ng
∑ a gi = 1 (Eqn. 37)
i=1
Also the requirement that ε g is a monotonically increasing function of pL is satisfied if all
the a gi are positive.
If the number of grey gases, N g , is large, then a gi may be thought of as the fraction of the
energy spectrum, relative to the blackbody energy, for which the absorption coefficient is
approximately k i . Then, the methodology described for the Multiband model can be used
directly.
Multi-Grey Gas Hadvig [49] has published charts of emissivity of combined CO2-H2O mixtures, for mixtures
Model with different relative proportions of CO2 and H2O. For the case of natural gas combustion,
Parameters
it can be shown that the proportions of water vapor and carbon dioxide in the products of
combustion is such that partial pressure ratio, p H O / p CO is approximately equal to 2.

2 2
Similarly, this ratio is 1 for oils and other fuels with the empirical formula, (CH2)x. Most other
hydrocarbon fuels have combustion products with a p H O / p CO ratio lying between 1
2 2
and 2. Starting from the charts of Hottel and Sarofim (1967) [48] for CO2 and H2O and
applying their correction factor for mixtures, Hadvig has evaluated the emissivity of a gas
mixture with p H O / p CO = 1 and 2 and presented the results as a function of T g and pL .
2 2
Leckner [50] has also published emissivity data, based on integrating the measured spectral
data for CO2 and H2O, which is in reasonable agreement with the Hottel charts where the
charts are based on measured data.
Taylor and Foster (1974) [51] have integrated the spectral data and constructed a multigrey
gas representation:
4 –K i ( pH + p CO )L
∑ a gi ( T g )
2O
εg =
2
1–e (Eqn. 38)
i=1
where the a gi are represented as linear functions of T g :
–5
a gi = b 1i + 10 b 2i T g (Eqn. 39)
As well as CO2 and H2O, the model developed by Beer, Foster and Siddall [52] takes into
account the contribution of CO and unburnt hydrocarbons, e.g., methane (CH4) which are
also significant emitters of radiation. These authors generalize the parameterization of the
absorption coefficients as follows:
K i ( p H 2 O + p CO2 ) → K i ( p H 2 O + p CO2 + p CO ) + K HCi p HC (Eqn. 40)
where p CO is the partial pressure of CO and p HC is the total partial pressure of all
hydrocarbon species.
The values of b 1i , b 2i [K-1], K i [m-1 atm-1] and K HCi [m-1 atm-1] are given in Table 1,
together with a similar correlation for N g = 3, derived by Beer, Foster and Siddall [52], and
suitable defaults for N g = 2 or 1 (single gray gas) representations.
Table 1 Grey gas emissivity parameters for a carbon dioxide / water vapor /
hydrocarbon mixture.
Ng i Gaseous Fuels pH2O/pCO2 = 2 Oils pH2O/pCO2 = 1
b1i b2i ki kHCi b1i b2i ki kHCi
1 1 1 0 1 0 1 0 1 0
2 1 0.437 7.13 0 3.85 0.486 8.97 0 3.41
2 0.563 -7.13 1.88 0 0.514 -8.97 2.5 0
3 1 0.437 7.13 0 3.85 0.486 8.97 0 3.41
2 0.390 -0.52 1.88 0 0.381 -3.96 2.5 0
3 1.173 -6.61 68.83 0 0.133 -5.01 109 0
4 1 0.364 4.74 0 3.85 0.4092 7.53 0 3.41
2 0.266 7.19 0.69 0 0.284 2.58 0.91 0
3 0.252 -7.41 7.4 0 0.211 -6.54 9.4 0
4 0.118 -4.52 80 0 0.0958 -3.57 130 0
Note: To satisfy the requirement that the a i factors sum to unity, the b 1 factors must sum
to 1.0 and the b 2 factors must sum to 0.

ANSYS CFX Radiation

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Radiation Theory

ANSYS CFX-Solver Theory Guide Page 263

where ε ν =spectral emissivity.

• Diffusely emitting and specularly reflecting boundaries

Writing x = hv ⁄ k B T , you have:

where σ = Stefan-Boltzmann constant:

where Gv is the spectral incident radiation, given by:

Radiation Through Domain Interfaces

and the probability of being transmitted is:

where β is the extinction coefficient (i.e., absorption plus scattering).

= – ( k + k r )∇T (Eqn. 22)

at the wall. ψ is computed as the solution of:

where φ v is given by:

where A is the linear anisotropy coefficient.

Discrete Transfer Model

Assuming that the system is reasonably homogeneous, so that:

I ν ( r, s ) = I νo exp ( – ( K aν + K sν )s ) + I bv ( 1 – exp ( – K a s ) ) + K sν I v (Eqn. 32)

I ν = Mean Radiation Intensity

Monte Carlo Model

Since emissivity must be proportional to absorptivity by Kirchoffs’ law, it follows that ε g

Also the requirement that ε g is a monotonically increasing function of pL is satisfied if all

the a gi are positive.

combustion is such that partial pressure ratio, p H O / p CO is approximately equal to 2.

where the a gi are represented as linear functions of T g :

K i ( p H 2 O + p CO2 ) → K i ( p H 2 O + p CO2 + p CO ) + K HCi p HC (Eqn. 40)

suitable defaults for N g = 2 or 1 (single gray gas) representations.

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