Simultaneous Estimation of Properties in a Combined Mode Conduction–Radiation Heat Transfer in a Porous Medium

Simultaneous estimation of thermophysical and optical properties such as the thermal conductivity, the scattering albedo, and the emissivity of a 1-D planar porous matrix involving combined mode conduction and radiation heat transfer with heat generation is reported. Coupled energy equations for the gas and solid phase account for the nonlocal thermal equilibrium between the two phases. Performances of the genetic algorithm (GA) and the global search algorithm (GSA) in simultaneous estimation of three properties are analyzed. Both the GA and the GSA utilize a priori knowledge of the axial gas temperature distribution, and the magnitudes of the convective and the radiative heat fluxes at the outer surface of the porous matrix. With volumetric radiative information needed in the solid-phase energy equation computed using the discrete transfer method, the two energy equations are simultaneously solved using the finite volume method. GSA provides better estimation, and computationally, it is much faster than the GA.