Transient Conductive and Radiative Transfer in a Planar Layer with Arrhenius Heat Generation

Transient conductive and radiative energy transfer in a gray absorbing-emitting planar medium bounded by black walls is studied. The temperature distribution is uniform when the medium starts releasing energy according to the Arrhenius equation. The Crank-Nicolson method is used in the radiative-dominant case with good accuracy. Time-dependent temperature and heat flux distributions are calculated until steady-state is reached. Confirmation of the solution technique is made by comparison with previous investigations. The dimensionless activation energy required for ignition varies from 4.1 for pure conduction to 7.5 for pure radiation. © 1987