Comparison and Refinement of the Various Full-Spectrum k-Distribution and Spectral-Line-Based-Weighted-Sum-of-Gray-Gases Models for Nonhomogeneous Media

Abstract Both the full-spectrum k-distribution (FSK) method and the spectral line weighted-sum-of-gray-gases (SLW) method are global spectral methods, with the former based on a spectral reordering concept, while the latter uses spectral binning. Both can provide excellent accuracy with outstanding numerical efficiency to model radiative heat transfer in combustion gases. In the present paper we aim to complete the development of both methods, and to tie them together, pointing out their commonalities and differences of their nonhomogeneous media extensions, employing either the correlated or scaled absorption coefficient assumption. Results from the complete set of plausible implementations are discussed and compared in detail for several radiative heat transfer calculations carried out in both 1D slabs and a real combustion field. The results show that emission is an important criterion to examine the accuracy of global methods applied to nonhomogeneous media, i.e., those that preserve emission generally give more accurate results than those that do not. It was also found that, while proper choice of the reference temperature required by all methods is important, the recommended methods appear to be only weakly dependent on that choice. Finally, equivalent SLW schemes are generally somewhat less accurate than their FSK counterparts due to their low-order spectral integration scheme; and this may be exacerbated if full-spectrum distributions are determined by mixing of values from individual species, as appears to be the preferred approach by SLW users to date.