Computational Fluid Dynamic Modelling of Thermal Periodic Stabilized Regime in Passive Buildings

Abstract

Abstract:The periodic stabilized regime is the condition where the temperature of each point of a certain environment varies following a periodic law. This phenomenon occurs in many practical applications, such as passive or ancient buildings not equipped with Heating, Ventilating and Air Conditioning HVAC systems and located in latitudes where the temperature greatly varies with Earth's daily cycles. Despite that, the study of transient phenomena is often simplified, i.e., considering negligible the thermal response of the indoor microclimate. An exact solution to enclosures whose microclimate is free to evolve under a periodic stabilized regime does not exist nowadays, also from an analytical point of view. The aim of this study is to parametrically analyze the thermal variations inside a room when a transient periodic temperature is applied on one side. The phenomenon has been numerically studied through Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) and analytically validated using a function that reproduces the daily variation of the outdoor temperature. The results of this research would lay the groundwork to develop analytical correlations to solve and predict the thermal behavior of environments subject to a periodic stabilized regime.