The effects of radiation on combustion in porous media

We present a mathematical model which describes the conversion of a gas fuel, or pollutant, inside a catalytic converter. After indicating how radiative heat effects can be described using a nonlinear diffusion term, we then show that including radiation in the model does not alter the qualitative behavior of steady state solutions. However, it does reduce both the maximum solid temperature and the region of parameter space in which optimal operation of the system—complete conversion of the gaseous fuel—occurs.