A Dual Grid Method for Radiation and Convection in an Enclosure

Numerical techniques are often used to solve radiation and convection heat transfer problems, in which the computational domain is discretised on a grid consisting of a number of volumes or elements. Using the conventional approach, all the equations for fluid motion and heat transfer are solved using the same grid. This can require a very large computer memory for the radiation view factors. In this study, a dual grid method is used, in which radiation is solved using a coarse grid, and convection is solved using a fine grid. The required computer memory for radiation view factors is substantially reduced, while retaining accuracy.