Monte carlo method extended to heat transfer problems with non-constant temperature and convection boundary conditions

Abstract

The Monte Carlo method for solving heat conduction problems [1-3] is extended for non-constant temperature boundary conditions in this study. The new method can treat problems with any given non-constant boundary temperatures, including heat convection problems with non-constant fluid bulk temperature. A set of problems, particularly the heat transfer problem in a pebble fuel, is analyzed by this new method. In addition, a new method to reduce the statistical errors in kernel fuel regions is introduced when the Monte Carlo method is applied to a pebble fuel.