Radiative Heat Transfer (RHT)

All forms of matter emit energy to their surroundings through electromagnetic waves due to their positive thermodynamic temperature. This type of energy release is known as thermal radiation. When electromagnetic waves hit a solid body, part of the energy is absorbed and converted into heat at the surface. This type of heat exchange, termed radiative heat transfer, doesn’t require any transfer media. In cases with hot surfaces and large temperature differences I use a surface to surface radiation model to account for RHT. It involves geometric relationships, called view factors, to determine the radiative exchange between surfaces as function of their size, distance and orientation.

Thermal radiation on my face measured by infrared camera.