A modified numerical integration method to calculate the view factor between finite and infinite cylinders in arbitrary array

摘要

The view factor has a critical impact on the estimation of the radiation heat transfer between different surfaces of energy systems. This paper presents an alternate and simple method for the blocking judgment and a modified numerical integration approach to calculate the view factor between finite and infinite length cylinders in an arbitrary array. The proposed method has been successfully validated through a comparison with the state-of-the-art published methods. Two cases are studied: (i) cylinders arranged in a staggered array for different spacing and lengths; (ii) cylinders arranged in an arbitrary array. The results show that the proposed method provides a fast and accurate way to evaluate the view factor for cylinder arrays with similar length. The analysis reveals that the length and arrangements have a strong influence on the view factor. The proposed method might be very useful to design an improved compact heat exchanger using a nonstandard arrangements. (C) 2020 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.