Numerical analysis of the effect of radiation on laminar steady natural convection in a two-dimensional participating medium between two horizontal confocal elliptical cylinders

Combined radiation and natural convection in a participating medium between two horizontal confocal elliptical cylinders is investigated numerically. The equations of steady, laminar two-dimensional natural convection are written by using an elliptic-cylinder coordinates system, the stream function, and the vorticity. The finite volume radiation solution method and the control volume technique are used to discretize the coupled equations of momentum, energy, and radiative transfer. Numerical solutions are obtained for Rayleigh numbers in the range 10(4) to 2 X 10(5) and the radiation-conduction parameter ranging from 0 to infinity. The special case corresponding to the convective flow within the annulus formed by an elliptical cylinder surrounding a flat plate is also considered.