Numerical study of heat transfer in an optically thick semi-transparent spherical porous medium

In this paper, heat transfer by simultaneous convection, conduction and radiation in a semi-transparent spherical porous medium is investigated. The ROSSELAND approximation is adopted to take account of radiation in the heat transfer rate. The routine used here to solve the set of differential equations is taken from the IMSL MATH/LIBRARY. Various results are obtained for the dimensionless temperature profiles in the solid and fluid phases, the radiative, conductive, convective and total heat fluxes. The effects of some radiative properties of the medium on the heat transfer rate are examined.