Three-Dimensional Conductive–Radiative Heat Transfer in an Absorbing/Scattering Medium

Combined conductive–radiative heat transfer in a three-dimensional cubical enclosure with an absorbing, emitting, and scattering medium is considered. The concept of the total exchange factor is used to account for the scattering effect in the formulation of the energy conservation equation. The generalized zonal method with Monte Carlo method is used to generate the total exchange factor. The computational approach is both efficient and accurate, serving as a roadmap for solving general combined conduction radiation heat transfer problems with more complex geometries and boundary conditions. Numerical data are generated for an isotropic scattering medium. Results show that the heat transfer and temperature profile depend strongly on the medium’s optical properties and the conduction–radiation parameter (the dimensionless ratio of the conduction-to-radiation effect). The three-dimensional effect is particularly significant on the medium’s temperature profile.