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Radiative Heat Transfer in Fibrous

T. W. Tong
Assistant Professor,
Insulations—Part I: Analytical
Department of Mechanical Engineering,
University of Kentucky,
Lexington, Ky. 40506
Study.
Assoc. Mem. ASME
The purpose of this work is to develop models for predicting the radiant heat flux in
lightweight fibrous insulations (L WFI). The radiative transport process is modeled
C. L. Tien by the two-flux solution and the linear anisotropic scattering solution of the
Professor, equation of transfer. The radiative properties of LWFI consistent with these
Department of Mechanical Engineering, solutions have been determined based on extinction of electromagnetic radiation by
University of California, the fibers. Their dependence on the physical characteristics of fibrous insulations
Berkeley, Calif. 94720 has been investigated. It has been found that the radiant heat flux can be minimized
Fellow ASME by making the mean radius of the fibers close to that which yields the maximum
extinction coefficient. The results obtained in this study are useful to those con-
cerned with the design and application of L WFI.

Introduction
Heat transfer in lightweight fibrous insulations (LWFI) has and scattering medium. The first method is widely used
been a subject of fundamental importance due to its wide because it is mathematically simple. The radiative con-
application in many engineering systems. The current U.S. ductivities that have been derived, however, contain a
energy situation has caused an unprecedented increased usage parameter which needs to be determined experimentally [5],
of fibrous materials as insulating media. Many new homes are This could be undesirable because the parameter not only
currently built with walls and attics insulated by LWFI and depends on the inherent property of the fiber material, such as
old structures are retrofitted with them. The increase in usage its chemical composition, but also on the physical structure of
has given further impetus to the research in this area. A better the insulation, such as the volume fraction and the fiber size.
understanding of the heat transfer characteristics of fibrous Whenever the volume fraction and/or the fiber size are
insulations is essential. Because of its widespread usage, a changed, the experiment for determining the parameter must
slight improvement of the insulating effectiveness would be repeated even though the fiber material used has not been
amount to substantial savings both in terms of total cost and altered. The second method requires solutions to the equation
overall energy consumption. of transfer as well as the radiative properties consistent with
In a two-dimensional slot filled with fibrous insulations and the solutions. It is the objective of this paper to develop
air, thermal energy could be transferred by thermal radiation, models for predicting the radiant heat transfer in LWFI by
conduction, and natural convection. The relative importance constructing approximate solutions to the equation of
of the different modes of heat transfer depends on the transfer. The two-flux and linear anisotropic scattering (LAS)
operating conditions as well as the properties of the in- models are employed. The radiative properties compatible
sulation. For example, it has been found that under moderate with these models are determined from consideration of
temperatures (300-400 K), air conduction and thermal extinction of electromagnetic radiation by the fibers. The
radiation are the two dominant modes of heat transfer in effects of chemical compositions and fiber sizes are studied by
LWFI [1-3]. In situations where the modified Rayleigh performing calculations for two different types of fiberglass
number (a measure of the buoyancy force to the resistance to insulations and various fiber size distributions.
flow) is large enough, natural convection may also become a
factor in the overall heat transfer process [4]. Although the Radiative Transport Theory
mechanisms of heat transfer in fibrous insulations are
generally well understood, quantitative computations are For a homogeneous planar system with uniform boundary
often severely limited due to the lack of theories describing conditions, the radiative heat transfer is one-dimensional and
certain heat transfer phenomena and/or the unavailability of the intensity of radiation is governed by the equation of
some of the heat transfer properties of the insulations. transfer which takes the form
This work is concerned with the prediction of the radiant di\(y,H,<t>) . 7
heat transfer in LWFI. Contrary to many people's belief that V- K7.
dy = -(ff«x- •°A)'AO'»^0)+<W6X( )
thermal radiation is only important at high temperatures,
studies have shown that it could account for as much as 30
percent of the total heat transfer in LWFI even at moderate + °,A. A(0'-0)i x (^'.*')rfO' (1)
temperatures [1-3]. A number of articles have appeared on
with
radiative heat transfer in fibrous insulations and a brief
review of the various transfer models has been given by Tong /Z = COS0
and Tien [5]. It can be summarized that there are basically two In equation (1), aa and as are the absorption and scattering
approaches in calculating the radiant heat flux. The first is to coefficients, respectively, / is the intensity, y the coordinate, d
employ a radiative conductivity and model radiation as a the polar angle, $ the azimuthal angle, ib the blackbody in-
conductive process. The second is to consider the equation of tensity, 7" the temperature, / the scattering phase function, 0
transfer governing the intensity of radiation in an absorbing the solid angle, and subscript A and superscript ' denote
spectral quantity and in-coming, respectively. It is implicitly
assumed in equation (1) that the participating medium is
Contributed by the Heat Transfer Division for publication in the JOURNAL OF
HEAT TRANSFER. Manuscript received by the Heat Transfer Division February isotropic, otherwise as and aa would be a function of
5, 1982. PaperNo. 81-HT-42. direction. In reality, even insulations with randomly oriented

7 0 / V o l . 105, FEBRUARY 1983 Transactions of the ASME


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fibers are not truly isotropic; but in view of the great sim- radiative properties are kept consistent with those in the
plication of the problem, the isotropy approximation is equation of transfer. Introducing the two-flux and gray
assumed to be applicable. The one-dimensional energy approximations, equations (1) and (3) reduce to
equation in the absence of heat generation and convection is dq'<
= -P(q" ) (5a)
k-
cPJXy)
dy 2 J oo

o °a>
hx(T)d\
dr

= -/3(<r-<7+) (5b)
dr
ix(y,ix' ,<t>')dQ'd\ (2)
Here, q+ and q~ are the radiant heat flux in the forward and
where k is the thermal conductivity. Because the purpose of backward directions, respectively, the optical depth, T, is
this work is to develop models for predicting radiative heat defined as
transfer in LWFI, it is assumed that the conductive mode of dr=aedy (6)
heat transfer does not exist. Cases where conduction and
radiation are both contributing to the total heat transfer may The following substitutions have also been used in arriving at
be treated by superposition as a first-order approximation [6]. equation (5)
Hence, dropping the conduction term in equation (2) yields ae = as + aa (1)
oo /> oo p
P = (l-o> + 2ab) (8)
J Oa\ib\(T)d\=\ oaA ix{y,n',(t>')dQ'dX (3) «= -^ (9)
which is the condition for radiative equilibrium. Assuming the
boundaries are diffuse, the boundary conditions can be
written as a=jy(0'- Q)dQ' (10)
(4a)
i^y = L) = Bu/-K (4b) Equations (7), (9), and (10) define the extinction coefficient,
the single scattering albedo, and the back-scattered fraction
where B is the surface radiosity, L the insulation thickness, factor, respectively. In equation (10), o stands for the
and 1 and 2 denote surfaces 1 and 2, respectively. backward hemisphere. Notice that subscript X has been
Equations (1) and (3) are coupled through ibK (T) and have dropped from equation (5) on. The solutions for q+ and q~
to be solved simultaneously. Due to the spectral dependency can be obtained by first decoupling equations (5a) and (5b),
of the radiative properties and the complex mathematical then integrating the decoupled equations. The integration
nature of the equation of transfer, analytical solutions are constants are determined by applying the boundary con-
difficult to obtain. Very often, analytically well-based ap- ditions (equation (4)). The final result for the net radiant heat
proximate solutions are more desirable from an engineering flux is
point of view. In this work, two approximate solutions are
considered, namely, the two-flux and LAS models. The qT = q+-q- = (Bx-B2)/(\+pT0) (11)
radiative properties are assumed gray in both models. As will where subscript T is introduced to distinguish that the result is
be shown later, the radiative properties of the two types of derived from the two-flux model and r0 is the optical
fiberglass insulations considered do exhibit some gray thickness (aeL).
characteristics, and since many insulations are made from
fiberglass, the gray approximation is adopted. Linear Anisotropic Scattering Model. The LAS model
originates from simplification introduced to the scattering
Two-Flux Model. The two-flux model represents the phase function for spherical particles. Hence, in a strict sense,
intensity of radiation in the forward and backward directions the LAS model is only valid for media composed of spherical
by two different but isotropic components. This empirical particles, but because of its ability to simplify the integral
assumption raises the question of determining the radiative term in equation (1) it would be desirable if it could be used
properties which best represent the true properties [7]. The for studying radiative heat transfer in media containing
two-flux model employed here is derived on the basis that the cylindrical fibers. This is possible if the scattering charac-

Nomenclature

a = coefficients r = radius of fibers


ax = angular distribution r = mean fiber radius -r,T0, =optical depth and optical
coefficient T = temperature thickness, respectively
A = function as defined in y = coordinate d> = azimuthal angle
equation (20) a = size parameter CO = single scattering albedo
b = coefficients or back- 0 — function as defined in n = solid angle
scattered fraction factor equation (8)
B = surface radiosity 7 = function as defined in Superscript:s
/ = scattering phase function equation (14) + , - = forward and backward
/„ = volume fraction of fibers V = angle, as shown in Fig. 1 directions, respectively
/(/•) = normalized size distribution polar angle ' = in-coming
G = function as defined in e= scattering angle for a sphere
h =
equation (16) X = wavelength Subscripts
/' = intensity of radiation n- = COS0 1,2 = surfaces 1 and 2, respec-
k = thermal conductivity k = angle, as shown in Fig. 1 tively
L = insulation thickness a = standard deviation b = blackbody
q = radiant heat flux h = extinction, absorption and L = linear anisotropic scattering
QoQs = absorption and scattering scattering coefficients, model
efficiencies, respectively respectively T = two-flux model

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oo oo
sin(n — w) £
X/ D [(b„ibmi +an2dm2)
n=1 m=1 (n — m)

SCATTERED sin(« + m)£ 1 . (n-m)£


f sin(^
2
INTENSITY (n + m) J I +("nl«ml +b„2bm2)\ —
(n — m)
T L (n

sin(« + m)£ 1 3-*


(n + m) (16)

In these equations, ?? and £ are the angles shown in Fig. l , / ( r )


INCIDENT CYLINDRICAL is the normalized radius distribution, a. the size parameter
INTENSITY FIBER (a = 2irr/\) and Qs the scattering efficiency. The bars denote
the complex conjugates of the respective coefficients. The
Fig. 1 Scattering by a cylindrical fiber
coefficients a, b, and Qs are functions of t\, a and the complex
refractive index of the fibers. To conserve space, their ex-
teristics of the cylindrical fibers can be approximated by some pressions will not be given here and the readers are referred to
equivalent spheres based on some prescribed criteria. This will the publications by Lind and Greenberg [9] and Kerker [10],
be discussed in more detail later. As mentioned before, the application of the LAS model to
fibrous media is based on approximating the scattering
The LAS phase function for an isotropic, homogeneous
characteristics of the fibers by some equivalent spheres. This
and perfectly spherical particle is [8]
is accomplished by assuming the equivalent spheres to have
/ ( f i ' - f i ) = (l+a,cos0 o )/47r (12) the same fraction of backward scatter as the fibers. Hence,
where ax is the angular distribution coefficient characterizing when equation (12) is integrated with respect to the backward
forward-backward scattering and 80 is the scattering angle. hemisphere, averaged over the fiber size distribution and
Combination of equations (1), (3), and (12) will result in two equated to bx, the following expression is obtained
coupled integral equations governing the irradiance and the alx=2(l-26x) (17)
radiant heat flux. Analytical closed-form solutions for these
integral equations have been obtained by Dayan and Tien [8] Note that subscript A is added in equation (17), since it is the
using the method of kernel substitution. The result for the spectral value that is being examined at the moment. The
radiant heat flux is scattering and absorption coefficients are [5]
TT

4/„
qL = (B]-B2)/(l+yT0)
where L stands for LAS model and
(13)
v2A ST Q rf(r)drd7,
Jo Jo
s (18)

73(3-wfl,)/4 (14) 4/„


It is seen that qT and qL are very similar in form and they can
be computed once the radiative properties are determined.
K2A JT&
J 0 J O
rf(r)drd-i) (19)

where /„ is the volume fraction of the fibers, Qa the ab-


sorption efficiency which has the same functional variables as
Radiative Properties Q, [9,10] and

The radiative properties required in the two-flux model are 2


(20)
<7j, aa, and b, and the same properties (except b is replaced by
A
•i: r f(r)dr
a{) are required in the LAS model. The derivations for the It should be pointed out that most fibrous insulations contain
spectral quantities of as, aa and, b have been given in a phenolic resins which act as binders to hold the fibers
previous paper [5], They were derived based on the extinction together. The above radiative properties were, however,
of radiation by a cylindrical fiber, then averaged over the derived assuming the fibers existed alone. The resins could
incidence angle and the fiber size distribution. The expression have some effects on the radiative properties such as altering
for ftx was determined as [5]' the effective complex refractive index and the geometry of the
fibers. These effects are uncertain at the present time and they
will be investigated in the future.
f 2 Gdr)
2 r» Jo
(15)
- ; f(r)dr
•K J o
•J: Qsd-o Results and Discussions 2
The information required to compute bx, alx, asX and croX
where from equations (15), (17), (18), and (19), respectively, are the
complex refractive index, the size distribution, and the
sinn - volume fraction of the fibers. The computations have been
G
= Yd (bo\b„i + bolbnl + ao2dn2 + do2an2) carried out for two types of fibrous insulations. Both are
assumed to be composed of fibers made from silica based

This paper was presented in a slightly different form as ASME Paper No.
8I-HT-42 where an error was discovered in the numerical computation of the
A brief description of the derivation of b^ is given in the Appendix. integrations over r\ in equations (15), (18) and (19).

72 / Vol. 105, FEBRUARY 1983 Transactions of the ASME

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Table 1 Wavelength-averaged radiative properties for
silicate fibrous insulations
Size distribution as/fu{m ') "a If vim )
r = f= 2.5 /on 2.378 X10 5 1.517x10 s 0.328
f=2.5 ftm, a= 1/trn 2.125x10s 1.375 x 1 0 s 0.351
r = 2.5 /urn, <J = 2 /im 1.756x10 s 1.104 x 1 0 s 0.363
r=r=5/im 1.373 x 1 0 s 8.478 x l O 4 0.272
r = 5/tm, cr= 1/im 1.337 x 1 0 s 8.193 XlO 4 0.304
f=5jxm, cr = 2fim 1.196x10 s 7.629X10 4 0.318

Table 2 Wavelength-averaged radiative properties for pure


WAVELENGTH, X(gm)
silica fibrous insulations
Fig. 2 Scattering and absorption properties of the silicate fibrous Size distribution oslf„(m ) aa/L(m )
insulation with a Gaussian distribution of i'= 2.5 j<m, u = 1 ^m r = f= 2.5 /an 2.513x10 s 1.205 x 1 0 s 0.331
f=2.5 /im, a= 1 /im 2.281 x 10s 1.089 x 1 0 s 0.360
/ r =2.5 /im, o = 2jim 1.850 x 1 0 s 8.691 xlO 4 0.379
r=r = 5/tm 1.380x10 s 6.257 x l O 4 0.330
f=$jxm, a= l^m 1.336x10 s 6.139X10 4 0.347
f=5fim, <r=2fim 1.223 x 10s 5.704 x 104 0.353

Champtier and Friese [12] and those below 7 /an are given by
Malitson [13]. They are used, along with some assumed fiber
size distribtuions, to calculate the radiative properties. Some
representative results are shown in Figs. 2-4. They are for
fibers with a Gaussian distribution of mean radius, f, equals
2.5 /xm and standard derivation, a, equals 1 /Am. The results
for the silicate fibrous insulation are from 4 to 30 /an. This
spectral range covers at least 90 percent of the blackbody
emissive power for temperatures between 350 K and 500 K.
The results for the pure silica fibrous insulation are, however,
WAVELENGTH, i(iim)
only obtained up to 26 /tm (the 4-26 fim range covers over 86
Fig. 3 Scattering and absorption properties of the pure silica fibrous percent of the blackbody emissive power for the same tem-
insulation with a Gaussian distribution of f= 2.5 ;im, a = 1 ^m
peratures), because the complex refractive index is not
available beyond this wavelength [12]. Since CTSX a n d oa\ a r e
i r proportional t o / „ , they are presented as as^/fv and aa\/fv In
general, c iX //„ is greater than aa^lfv, except at some small
regions where the reverse is true. At the short wavelength
region, aaX/fv is comparatively smaller. This is because the
imaginary part of the complex refractive index, which ac-
counts for the absorption of radiation, is smaller. Since a i x is
linearly related to bx, only results for bx are presented. Figure
4 shows the fibers scatter predominantly in the forward
direction. It is difficult to compare quantitatively the spectral
results as presented in the figures. But since the results
SILICATE
oscillate as a function of wavelength, it would be more
PURE SILICA convenient to assume the radiative properties are gray and
compare some averaged values. In this work, the wavelength-
averaged (arithmetic mean) values are compared. It should be
noted that the arithmetic means are different from those
16 20
obtained by weighting by another function. Just to demon-
WAVELENGTH, J(IJ») strate the difference, consider the silicate fibrous insulation
Fig. 4 Back-scattered fraction factor of fiberglass insulation with a
with / r =2.5 /mi, c = l /im and a temperature of 350 K. The
Gaussian distribution of r = 2.5 jim and <; = 1 ;im mean values, when the spectral blackbody emissive power is
used as the weighting function, are: as/fv = 1.987 x 10s
m " \ a„/fv = 1.200 xlO 4 m " 1 , b = 0.299. They differ by
glass, but with different chemical compositions so that its less than 15 percent from those given in Table 1.
effect can be studied. Various size distributions are also
assumed in each fiberglass insulation in order to investigate Shown in Tables 1 and 2, respectively, are the wavelength-
the fiber size dependency. averaged results for the silicate and pure silica fibrous in-
The two types of glass that have been considered are silicate sulations of various size distributions. The size distributions
glass and pure silica glass. HsiehandSu [11] have reported the considered are: (/) uniform; (//') Gaussian with a = 1 /on; {Hi)
complex refractive index for a silicate glass with weight Gaussian with a = 2 /xm. For each size distribution, results
compositions: Si02 (73.5 percent), Na 2 0 (21.3 percent), CaO have been obtained for r equals 2.5 and 5 /im. Most LWFI
(5.2 percent). The values given are for a wavelength range of available commercially have a mean radius somewhere
0.32-206.6 /im. The complex refractive index for the pure between these two values. It is clear that as far as <rs/fu and
silica glass in the 7-26 /tin range can be found in a report by <7„//„ are concerned, doubling the mean radius has a far

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i r
1 1
ni — T TWO-FLUX MODEL

s->
- - — -
"• - - . „

EXTINCTION

— SCATTERING -
ABSORPTION

0 1 2
J3 L
4 5

RADIUS, r[iim)
1 _j JL Fig. 8 Radiative heat transfer for silicate fibrous insulations with
L = 0.05 m
RADIUS, r(iini}

Fig. 5 Wavelength-averaged coefficients of silicate fibrous in-


sulations
TWO-FLUX MODEL

LAS MODEL

EXTINCTION

SCATTERING

ABSORPTION RADIUS, r(um)

Fig. 9 Radiative heat transfer for pure silica fibrous insulations with
L = 0.05 m

chemical compositions is also demonstrated in Tables 1 and 2.


RADIUS, r(um) While the properties for the silicate fibrous insulation and the
Fig. 6 Wavelength-averaged coefficients of pure silica fibrous in-
pure silica fibrous insulation are not the same, the difference
sulations is not nearly as large as that caused by doubling the mean
radius.
In light of the above discussions, the influence of the mean
u.s 1 1 1 T radius is analyzed in more detail. Because the effect of the
type of size distribution is comparatively smaller, only
uniform distribution will be considered from this point on
0.4 - (i.e., r = f). The calculations for the radiative properties have
been repeated for different r and the wavelength-averaged
^•v^^ „.-- results are shown in Figs. 5-7. In Figs. 5 and 6, the scattering
0.3 coefficients (here it means scattering coefficient//,,) drops off
much faster than the absorption coefficient when r—0. This is
because in the small fiber limit, Qs, is proportional to the
0.2 - fourth power of r, and Qa is only proportional to the first
power [10]. The scattering coefficient is greater than the
SILICATE
absorption coefficient for larger radii, and both decrease as r
0.1 PURE SILICA increases. The extinction coefficients go through a peak at
r= 1.6 jxm and 1.4 /mi for the silicate and pure silica fibrous
insulations, respectively. The back-scattered fraction factors
1 1 1 i as shown in Fig. 7 start off at almost equal amounts of for-
ward and backward scattering when r is small. As r gets
RADIUS, r(pm)
larger, the scattering becomes forward preferential. The trend
Fig. 7 Wavelength-averaged back-scattered fraction factor
is similar to those presented by Larkin and Churchill for
scattering of radiation by a single fiber [14].
To demonstrate the usefulness of the results presented so
greater influence than keeping the mean radius fixed and far, the wavelength-averaged radiative properties are used
varying the standard deviation. Some values decrease almost with the two-flux and LAS models to calculate the radiant
by half when ris changed from 2.5-5 /«n. For b, the effects of heat flux. Figures 8 and 9 show how the dimensionless radiant
changing the mean radius and the standard deviation are heat flux changes with r and/„. It is clear that the radiant heat
comparable. It should be noted that the radiative heat flux has flux goes through a minimum right around where the ex-
a weaker dependence on b than on as and aa. Thus, for the tinction coefficient is maximum (compare to Figs. 5 and 6).
kind of magnitude change involved, the variation in b due to a This is important because for a given/„ (or equivalently, for a
change in r or a is of lesser importance. The effect of different given insulation density), the insulating value can be

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maximized by making the mean fiber radius close to that 3 Pelanne, C. M., "Heat Flow Principles in Thermal Insulations," Journal
which gives the maximum extinction coefficient. It should be of Thermal Insulation, Vol. 1,1977, pp. 48-80.
4 Bankvall, C. G., "Natural Convective Heat Transfer in Insulated
noted that the mean radius which yields the minimum radiant Structures," Lund Institute of Technology, Report 38, 1972.
heat flux does not correspond exactly with the one that has the 5 Tong, T. W., and Tien, C. L., "Analytical Models for Thermal Radiation
maximum extinction coefficient. This is because the radiant in Fibrous Insulations," Journal of Thermal Insulation, Vol. 4, 1980, pp.
heat flux depends on b (or «j) and co as well and they do not 27-44.
6 Tong, T. W., Yang, Q. S., and Tien, C. L., "Radiative Heat Transfer in
necessarily have the optimum values at the same mean radius. Fibrous Insulations—Part II: Experimental Study," ASME JOURNAL OF HEAT
For the conditions considered, the LAS model gives a 15-30 TRANSFER, Vol. 105, Feb. 1983, pp. 76-81.
percent higher prediction than the two-flux model. The 7 Chan, C. K., and Tien, C. L., "Radiative Transfer in Packed Spheres,"
physical thickness of LWFI under typical operating con- ASME JOURNAL OF HEAT TRANSFER, Vol. 96, 1974, pp. 52-58.
ditions is of the order of several centimeters. Thus, for 8 Dayan, A., and Tien, C. L., "Heat Transfer in Gray Planar Medium
With Linear Anisotropic Scattering," ASME JOURNAL OF HEAT TRANSFER,
/ „ > 0.005, the optical thickness falls in the optically thick Vol. 97, 1975, pp. 391-396.
region. From equations (11), (13), (18), and (19), it is seen that 9 Lind, A. C , and Greenberg, J. M., "Electromagnetic Scattering by
the radiant heat flux is approximately proportional to the Obliquely Oriented Cylinder," Journal of Applied Physics, Vol. 37, 1966, pp.
inverse o f / „ in the optically thick limit. Indeed, as shown in 3195-3203.
10 Kerker, M., The Scattering of Light, Academic Press, New York, 1969.
the figures, the radiant heat flux is roughly decreased by half
11 Hsieh, C. K., and Su, K. C , "Thermal Radiative Properties of Glass
when/„ is doubled. This means that thermal radiation can be from 0.32 to 206 /im," Solar Energy, Vol. 22,1979, pp. 37-43.
reduced by increasing the insulation density. However, the 12 Champetier, R. J., and Friese, G. J., "Use of Polished Fused Silica to
design of insulations must take into account the economic Standardize Directional Polarized Emittance and Reflectance Measurements in
factor, as a denser insulation would cost more to manufac- the Infrared," The Aerospace Corporation Report SAMSO-TR-202, 1974.
13 Malitson, I. H., "Interspecimen Comparison of the Refractive Index of
ture, and also fiber-to-fiber conduction heat transfer will Fused Silica," Journal of the Optical Society of America, Vol. 55, 1965, pp.
become appreciable when/„ reaches approximately 0.03 [2]. 1205-1209.
Therefore, increasing the insulation density may not always 14 Larkin, B. K., and Churchill, S. W., "Scattering and Absorption of
be the most desirable method to reduce radiative heat trans- Electromagnetic Radiation by Infinite Cylinders," Journal of the Optical
Society of America, Vol. 49, 1959, pp. 188-190.
fer. Comparison of the results in Figs. 8 and 9 indicates that
there is only a few percent difference between the two types of
fiberglass insulations. This suggests that the chemical com-
position will have little affect on the radiative heat transfer
result as long as the fibers are made from silica based glass.
APPENDIX

Conclusions
Derivation for bx
The radiative heat transfer in LWFI has been modeled by
The expression for the scattered intensity from a single
two gray transfer models. They are the two-flux and LAS
filter, <j(£,r/), has been given in the literature [5,10]. The
models. The radiative properties needed in these transfer
scattered intensity averaged over all incidence is
models have been determined by considering the extinction of
radiation by the fibers. The radiant heat flux and the radiative
properties are found to be calculable once the physical /,({) = - [ " is(t,l)dri (Al)
IT Jo
characteristics of the fibrous bed such as the complex
refractive index, size, and volume fraction of the fibers are A scattering phase function based on is (£) can be defined as
known. This allows the influence of each of these properties
to be studied independently. M)= (A2)
Results obtained for silicate fiberglass insulations and pure
J4ir
silica fiberglass insulations show that the mean radius of the
fibers has a more pronounced effect than the type of size Combining equations (A2) and (10) gives
distribution and the chemical composition of the fibers. For a
given insulation density, the radiant heat flux can be j IsMdQ
minimized by making the mean radius close to that which
yields the maximum extinction coefficient. The radiant heat bx= (A3)
flux is found to be approximately proportional to the inverse f ls(t;)dQ
of the volume fraction of the fibers. It is also found that the J 4T
LAS model gives a higher prediction of the radiant heat flux To perform the integrations in equation (A3), we envision the
than the two-flux model. fiber being encompassed by a sufficiently large sphere so that
dQ = sinpdvdt;, where £ is the angle shown in Fig. 1, and v is
Acknowledgment the angle between the fiber axis and the center line of dQ.
The authors wish to acknowledge the joint support of this Thus, equation (A3) becomes
work by the National Science Foundation and the U.S. 37r/2 [ 1 i _
Department of Energy.
6X =
i ir/2 Jo
ls(£)smvdvd£
(A4)
References 2TT p 7T
js{£)smvdvd£
1 Verschoor, J. D., and Greebler, P., "Heat Transfer by Gas Conduction !o Jo
and Radiation in Fibrous Insulation," ASME Trans., Vol. 74, 1952, pp.
961-968.
When the integrations in equations (Al) and (A4) are per-
2 Bankvall, C. G., "Heat Transfer in Fibrous Materials," Journal of formed analytically and the resultant expression for bx is
Testing and Evaluation, Vol. 1, 1973, pp. 235-243. averaged over the size distribution, one obtains equation (15).

Journal of Heat Transfer FEBRUARY 1983, Vol. 105/75

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