This program will develop a generalized zonal method (GZM) for the analysis of radiative heat transfer in multi-dimensional absorbing, emitting, and anisotropically scattering media. The effect of non-diffuse of non-diffuse reflecting surfaces will also be explored. The method to be used is a generalization of the "conventional zonal method", CZM, which was developed in fifties and has been the mainstay of practical calculations since then, with apparently little modification. State-of-the-art parallel processing computational capabilities will be exploited enabling the solution of the vastly more complicated generalized equations. The main product of this research will be a method of such accuracy that it will serve as a benchmark for other approximations which have been in use, although not adequately validated. The PI expects to generate some fundamental parameters based on a mean-beam-length concept which be useful for scaling model experiments to full-scale prototypes. The code developed will be critically compared with existing experimental data.
