Dynamic Heat Transfer Calculation for Ground-Coupled Floor in Emergency Temporary Housing

• Published in: Applied sciences Vol. 12; no. 22; p. 11844
• Main Authors: Ding, Pei, Li, Jin, Xiang, Mingli, Cheng, Zhu, Long, Enshen
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Basel MDPI AG 01-11-2022
• Subjects: Approximation; Artificial intelligence; Boundary conditions; building simulation; Buildings; Climate; Cold weather; Computer applications; Design optimization; Dirichlet problem; Emergencies; Emergency housing; emergency temporary housing; Exact solutions; Finite volume method; Flooring; ground-coupled heat transfer; Heat resistance; Heat transfer; heat transfer equation; Indoor environments; Insulation; Methods; mixed boundary conditions; Numerical analysis; Radiation; Simulation; Soil conditions; Soil dynamics; Soil temperature; Soils; Temperature gradients; Temporary housing; Thermal capacity; Transient heat transfer
• ISSN: 2076-3417; 2076-3417
• DOI: 10.3390/app122211844

Generally, ground-coupled floor heat transfer is supposed as annual periodic, which is reasonable for conventional buildings. However, for emergency housing with a short life cycle, the influence of initial soil temperature needs to be considered. In a previous study, the Wiener–Hopf technique was introduced to solve the two-dimensional transient heat transfer equation with mixed Dirichlet and Robin boundary conditions. Based on that, an analytical solution of the dynamic heat transfer equation with initial soil temperature conditions was obtained. Since the solution was in the form of a double integral, its numerical evaluation method was also analyzed to improve computational efficiency. The accuracy and efficiency of the solution were validated by the finite volume method. Then, the effects of initial soil temperatures in different seasons, soil heat conductivities, and floor insulation on ground-coupled heat transfer were discussed. Results showed significant temperature differences between the current solution and the annual periodic solutions (long-time solutions), especially in hot and cold climates. Moreover, the larger the thermal capacity of the soil, the bigger temperature differences occurred. Therefore, this study is expected to provide a theoretical foundation for the indoor environment prediction and optimization design of emergency temporary housing.