Methods for Modeling Convective and Wave Processes and Heat Transfer in Near-Critical Media. An Overview

The paper outlines the theoretical studies of flows and heat transfer in near-critical media in the vicinity of the critical thermodynamic point under microgravity and terrestrial conditions. The criteria determining the characteristics of thermal gravitational convection and thermal acoustics complicated by the adiabatic compression effect, the distinctive features of convection generation, and the hierarchy of non-Boussinesq mathematical models and the their calibration on the basis of the Boussinesq model are discussed.