AIR MIXTURE RADIATIVE PROPERTY MODELING IN THE TEMPERATURE-RANGE 10,000-40,000 K

A model based on the distribution functions of the absorption coeffici ents is used to describe the radiative properties of an air plasma at atmospheric pressure between 10,000 and 40,000 K. In order to account for spectral fine structure effects on radiative transfer in nonunifor m media, fictitious species whose spectra reasonably satisfy the scali ng approximation are introduced. The absorption spectra of these ficti tious species are assumed to be spectrally uncorrelated. Radiative pro perties are described in terms of absorption coefficients and the mode l can be used with arbitrary radiative transfer equation solvers. Mode l parameters are generated from spectral high resolution calculations. The different approximations required to implement the model are disc ussed and their validity is checked by comparisons with line-by-line b enchmarks. It is shown that the model can predict radiative transfer a long strongly nonisothermal columns within a few percent. Copyright (C ) 1996 Elsevier Science Ltd.