The Monte Carlo method in radiative heat transfer

The use of the Monte Carlo method in radiative heat transfer is reviewed. The review covers surface-surface, enclosure, and participating media problems. Discussion is included of research on the fundamentals of the method and on applications to surface-surface interchange in enclosures, exchange between surfaces with roughness characteristics, determination of configuration factors, inverse design, transfer through packed beds and fiber layers, participating media, scattering, hybrid methods, spectrally dependent problems including media with line structure, effects of rising parallel algorithms, practical applications, and extensions of the method. Conclusions are presented on needed future work and the place of Monte Carlo techniques in radiative heat transfer computations.