Numerical Analysis of Rayleigh-Bénard Convection with and Without Volumetric Radiation

Abstract

This article reports the numerical study of Rayleigh–Bénard convection in a 2-D rectangular channel in the presence of volumetric radiation. Momentum and energy equations are formulated and solved using the lattice Boltzmann method (LBM). Volumetric radiative information needed in the energy equation is computed using the finite volume method. The approach of the double population scheme is adopted in the LBM to compute the velocity and the temperature fields. Effects of optical properties such as the extinction coefficient, the scattering albedo, and the convection-radiation parameter on streamlines, isotherms, and Nusselt number distributions are analyzed for a wide range of Rayleigh numbers. Radiation is found to significantly alter the velocity and thermal fields in the medium.