Radiation of Heat in an Insulating Vacuum Layer

The paper is motivated by the previous research concerning the heat transfer in a heat accumulation device. The device had been explored, built up and tested with the aim of utilization of cheap solar energy and its storage. In this heat storage system, a vacuum-like gap between two concentric containers acts as an insulating layer, radiation being the predominant heat transfer type in the gap. The better knowledge and understanding of the heat exchange by radiation, the more effectiveness of the insulation of the layer can be reached. Heat transfer by radiation is explored in the paper, mathematical model is set up, the algorithm of non-linear transient computation is introduced, and some illustrative results of this computation are performed.