The effect of sodium aerosols on total heat transfer and temperature in the cover gas space

Following previous work, we perform calculations for heat transfer across an idealised cover gas space filled with an aerosol of specified optical thickness, τ0. The radiative configuration factors are calculated from τ0, surface emissivities, ε1 and ε2, and a scattering albedo, ω*=0.95. In contrast to ω*, τ0 is shown to be strongly dependent on the size distribution for a sodium aerosol. Total heat transfer rates are obtained for several possible sets of ε1 and ε2, and their dependence on these and aerosol thickness, represented by τ0, is explored. The cover gas temperature is found to be a more sensitive function of the presence and thickness of an aerosol. (author)