Modified finite-volume method based on a cell vertex scheme for the solution of radiative transfer problems in complex 3D geometries

A modified finite-volume method based on a cell vertex scheme was applied to solve radiative transfer problems within a participating medium of complex three-dimensional shaped domain. The computational spatial domain of interest was divided into four-node tetrahedron elements with unstructured meshes while the adopted formulation was combined with a closure relation based on an exponential scheme. The studied medium was assumed to be grey, non-scattering and was bounded by black surfaces. Our results were then compared with those found in other articles on the subject. The approach shows a very good level of performance for wall heat transfer evaluation. Accurate results were obtained on coarse computational meshes and solution errors were found to decrease with grid refinement.

► We solve the RTE in complex three-dimensional geometries with a modified finite volume method. ► We applied the original method on unstructured tetrahedral meshes. ► The method is based on a cell vertex formulation and an exponential scheme. ► Our results have been validated with those of the literature on benchmark cases. ► Good accuracy is obtained on coarse grids; errors decrease with grid refinement.