In conventional floating zone crystal growth, convection, especially Marangoni convection in the melt zone, is very strong. In addition, the quality and shape of the crystal is poor and difficult to control. In view of these problems, a modified floating zone crystal growth has been developed, in which a metal strip is immersed in the melt zone. The purpose of this paper is to simulate the fluid flow and the heat transfer during crystal growth, so that this modified process can be understood better. The flow patterns and temperature fields were calculated for the growth of NaNO3 and Si. (C) 2002 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.