Parallel Computations of Nongray Radiative Heat Transfer

ABSTRACT

Nongray radiative transfer calculations are demonstrated on parallel computers by spatially decomposing the discrete ordinates method to solve the radiative transport equation (RTE). The predictions from coupling different property models with the RTE are compared against benchmarks for model problems. A validation metric is employed to quantify the agreement with the benchmarks. The weighted-sum-of-gray-gases model, and Patch mean absorption coefficients extracted from a narrow-band model (RADCAL), gave the most accurate results. However, the shortcomings of employing these two models in a combustion simulation are recognized. The robustness of the parallel algorithm is demonstrated through scaling studies.

The authors would like to acknowledge the support of the Center for the Simulation of Accidental Fires and Explosions (C-SAFE) at the University of Utah. C-SAFE is a part of U.S. Department of Energy, Academic Strategic Alliance Partners (ASAP)-Advanced Simulation and Computing (ASC, formerly known as ASCI) alliance. The authors would also like to express their thanks to the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), Gaithersburg, Maryland, for providing them with the RADCAL program, and to Prof. Brent Webb, who kindly made his prediction data available. The authors also thank their colleagues at C-SAFE for their assistance with the combustion code development, and the reviewers for their feedback.