To cite this article: DAVID A. MANDELL (1974) Exact and Mean Beam Length Calculations For Radiative Heat Transfer in Gases,
Combustion Science and Technology, 9:5-6, 273-276
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Combustion Science and Technology, © Gordon and Breach, Science Publishers Ltd.
1974, Vol. 9, pp. 273-276 Printed in The United Kingdom
SHORT COMMUNICATIO~
Abstract-This note examines the validity of the mean beam length technique, which is an approximate engineer-
ing method for calculating radiative heat transfer in furnace gases. Exact and mean beam length results are com-
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pared for laminar flow of carbon monoxide between parallel black surfaces. The results show that the mean beam
length calculations overestimate the heat transfer by 47 per cent. This approximation gives better results than other
approximate techniques used such as the gray gas and optically thin approximations. Further work is needed to
determine the validity of the mean beam length technique in more complicated geometries, and when gas mixtures
are present.
.10 t-----------If--------------j.-----------1
.
>-
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!:::
>
U"l
U"l
~
W
.010 f - - - - - -
T' 1000 K
P = I ATM
DISTANCE. em
FIG. 1. Emissivity and mean beam length results for carbon monoxide.
Since the mean beam length, L" depends upon do not give emissivity values to high enough L
the temperature, pressure and absorbing properties values, the integral in equation (3) was evaluated to
of the gas, as well as the geometry of the enclosure, L = Lmax. e(X) was assumed to be linear from
the calculations would be greatly simplified if the Lma.x to L = 10,000 cm and for L > 10,000 ern,
geometric mean beam length, L o • could be used. seX) was taken equal to one. This is an upper
For parallel boundaries, L o = 2L and the Nusselt bound on the error in eeL,). At L = 9.14 em, the
number becomes error was 5 per cent and it increased to about 35 per
cent at L = 30 em. Therefore, additional emissivity
Nu = Nu , + 40'T~Le(2L )
----=--'--'- (4) results for large path lengths would be desirable.
Figure 2 shows exact results; gray gas results,
k
which are based on a wavelength averaged absorp-
RESULTS tion coefficient (the Planck mean absorption
coefficient); and optically thin results, valid for
Figure 1 shows carbon monoxide emissivity values small pressure path lengths; obtained from Cess
(Abu-Romia and Tien, 1966) and also the parallel and Tiwari (1967). The mean beam length results
plate mean beam length results calculated from calculated in the present work are also shown.
equation (3). Since Abu-Romia and Tien (1966) For small plate spacings, radiation has a small
SHORT COMMUNICATION 275
'8
17
16
-Band Absarptance Results
o Results Using La
'i7 Results Using Le
14
o Gray Gas Results
o Oplically Thin Resulls
p·1 ATM
T,·IOOO K
/
'2
V
LO
/
/
/
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[
8
J/ /
6
~
~
4
.2 .4 .5 .6 .7 .8 .9 L 3 4 6 7 0 9 10
L. em
influence and this influence increases as L increases. the validity of mean beam length calculations in
The mean beam length, gray gas and optically thin complicated geometries and for gas mixtures, which
results all overestimate the effects of radiation, may also include solid particles.
and the error increases significantly as L increases.
The geometric mean beam length results over-
REFERENCES
estimate the radiation more than the mean beam
length, as would be expected. Both of the mean Abu-Romia, M. M. and Tien, C. L. (1966). Measurements
beam length results are considerably better approxi- and correlations of infrared radiation of carbon mon-
mations to the exact results than are the gray gas oxide at elevated temperatures. J. Quant. Spectrosc,
or optically thin results. For example, at L = 9.14 Radiat, Transfer 6,143-167.
Cess, R. D. and Tiwari, S. N. (1967). Heat transfer to
em, the gray gas solution overestimates the heat laminar flow of an Absorbing-Emitting gas between
transfer by 540 per cent; the optically thin, by parallel plates, State University of New York at Stony
412 per cent; the geometric mean beam length, by Brook, Report No. 90. Presented at third all-union
47 per cent; and the mean beam length, by 36 heat and mass transfer conference, Minsk, U.S.S.R.,
May 14-18, 1968.
per cent. Dunkle, R. V. (1964). Geometric mean beam lengths for
In summary, the mean beam length and geometric radiant heat transfer calculations, J. Heat Transfer 86C,
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agreement, and they are approximately an order Field, M. A., Gill, D. W., Morgan, B. B., and Hawksley,
of magnitude closer to the exact solution than P. G. W. (1967). Combustion of Pulverised Coal,
The British Coal Utilisation Research Association,
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present work. More work is needed to determine Spectrosc. Radiat, Transfer 1, 169-176.
276 SHORT COMMUNICATION
Oppenheim, A. K. and Bevans, J. T. (1960). Geometric Tien, C. L. and Wang, L. S. (1965a). Band absorption laws,
factors for radiative heat transfer through an absorbing gas body geometries and the mean beam length,
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360-368. anics Institute, pp. 345-357.
Tien, C. L. and Ling, G. R. (1969). On a simple correlation Tien, C. L. and Wang, L. S. (1965b). On the calculation of
for total band absorptance of radiating gases. Int. J. the mean beam length for a radiating gas. J. Quant.
Heat Mass Transfer 12, 1179-1181. Spectrosc. Radiat . Transfer 453-456.
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