8TH INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON INDUSTRIAL POWER ENGINEERING

April 14-15, 2011 - B!", RO#ANIA

RESEARCH RELATED TO THE STUD$ OF HEAT TRANSFER
THROUGH A FLAT WALL
GRIGORE RO%ANA
&
, OSTAHIE NARCIS
&
, POPA SORIN
&
, HA'I ANETA&
*
Vasile AlecsandriUniversity of Bacau
A()*r!* The paper aims to achieve a simulation of heat transfer through a flat wall,
based on the 3D model of the wall. There are taken in consideration three constructive
cases: exterior wall, exterior wall with insulation (two different thickness of insulation.
!umerical simulation using the program "#$%#$& 'low and "omsol %ultiph(sics
proves ver( important tools for the stud( of heat transfer in a flat wall with thermal
insulation.
+,-./r0)1 con)ugated heat transfer, flat wall, finite element method, thermal resistance,
heat loss, thermal transmittance
12 INTRODUCTION
*ncreasing energ( efficienc( constitutes an important part in the buildings sector. Directive +,,+&-.&/" and
Directive +,.,&3.&/0 emphasi1ed the need to reduce the energ( consumption in the residential and tertiar(
sector, the ma)or part of which is buildings (represents for more than 2,3 of the final consumption in the
"ommunit( 4.5, 4+5.
*mproving energ( efficienc( in buildings means to reduce specific consumption and increasing local energ(
production, from renewable sources, especiall( 435. 6educing of specific consumption can be achieved using a
lot of methods, one of them is representing b( the moderni1ation of the envelopes.
The most significant heat losses of a building are the heat losses through the walls of the building envelope. The
paper aims to achieve a simulation of heat transfer through a flat wall, based on the 3D model of the wall. There
are taken in consideration three constructive cases: exterior wall, exterior wall with insulation (two different
thickness of insulation.
22 PHISICAL #ODEL
*t is considered a flat wall without internal heat source with geometric dimensions: ,.+m thickness, +.7m height
and width of 2m, which is anal(1ed for three different cases. *n the first case examined wall is not insulated, in
the second case wall is insulated with expanded pol(st(rene b( thickness of ,,,7m, and in the third case
insulation thickness is increased to ,,. m.
Thermo ph(sical properties of materials of plane wall are presented in Table . and the ph(sical 3D model is
presented in figure ..
Table .. Thermo ph(sical properties of materials
8roprieties %aterial
9rick /xpanded 8ol(st(rene
Thermal conductivit(
4:&m;5
,,2< ,,,22
Densit( 4kg&m
3
5 ..7, ++
8TH INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON INDUSTRIAL POWER ENGINEERING
April 14-15, 2011 - B!", RO#ANIA
specific heat capacit(
4=&kg;5
>?, .2<,
'ig. .. 8hisical models of considered walls: a. flat wall, b. flat wall with expanded pol(st(rene b( thickness of
,.,7m, c. flat wall with expanded pol(st(rene b( thickness of ,..m
#n the right side of the wall is air with @.>
o
" temperature and on the left side is air with +,
o
" temperature.
32 #ATHE#ATICAL #ODELLING
%athematical modelling includes assignation of governing eAuations. The partial differential eAuations (pdes
governing fluid flow and heat transfer include the continuit( eAuation, the !avier@$tokes eAuations and the
energ( eAuation. These eAuations are intimatel( coupled and non@linear making a general anal(tic solution
impossible except for a limited number of special problems, where the eAuations can be reduced to (ield anal(tic
solutions 425. B set of several simplified h(pothesis must be introduced for reali1e the mathematical model:
Comogeneous la(ersD
*t cumulates convection process with radiation process in one heat transfer process, characterised b(
heat transfer coefficients hi and he in 4:&m
+
;5D
heat transfer coefficients are considered constants along the surface of heat transferD
it aims to determine the heat flow and thermal field distribution through the wallD
$tead( state conditions.
The governing eAuations for fluid flow and heat can be written as 475:
"ontinuit( eAuation:
,

z
w
y
v
x
u
t

, (.
x@, (@, 1@ momentum eAuations:
DR
S S
x
w
z
u
z x
v
y
u
y x
u
x x

x
!
z
u
w
y
u
v
x
u
u
t
u
+ +
1
]
1

,
_

+
1
]
1

,
_

+
1
]
1

+
,
8TH INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON INDUSTRIAL POWER ENGINEERING
April 14-15, 2011 - B!", RO#ANIA
DR
S S
y
w
z
v
z x
v
y
u
x y
v
y y

y
!
z
v
w
y
v
v
x
v
u
t
v
+ +
1
]
1

,
_

+
1
]
1

,
_

+
1
]
1

+
,
DR
S S
y
w
z
v
y x
w
z
u
x z
w
z z

z
!
z
w
w
y
w
v
x
w
u
t
w
+ +
1
]
1

,
_

+
1
]
1

,
_

+
1
]
1

+
.
(+
The two source terms in the momentum eAuations, S" and SDR, are for rotating coordinates and distributed
resistances, respectivel(.
The distributed resistance term can be written in general as:
i
i
i DR
V #
V
d
f
$ S

,
_

+
+
+
, (3
:here i refer to the global coordinate direction (u% v% and w momentum eAuation, f& friction factor, d@ h(draulic
diameter, # permeabilit( and the other factors are descript in table +. !ote that the $@factor term can operate
on a single momentum eAuation at a time because each direction has its own uniAue $@factor. The other two
resistance t(pes operate eAuall( on each momentum eAuation 475.
The other source term is for rotating flow. This term can be written in general as:
i
r
i i i
V
i
S

+
, E (2
:here i refer to the global coordinate direction, " is the rotational speed and r is the distance from the axis of
rotation.
'or incompressible and subsonic compressible flow, the energ( eAuation is written in terms of static temperature
475:
V
'
z
(
U
z y
(
U
y x
(
U
x z
(
w

c
y
(
v

c
x
(
u

c
t
(

c +

1
]
1

1
]
1

1
]
1

,
(7
The volumetric heat source term from eAuation (7 is considered 1ero for this model. Table + presents the
variable of the eAuations:
Table +.Fariables of the governing eAuations
4ri(il, D,)!rip*i/5
c specific heat at constant pressure
) thermal conductivit(
pressure
'V volumetric heat source
( temperature
t time
u velocit( component in x@
direction
v velocit( component in (@
direction
8TH INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON INDUSTRIAL POWER ENGINEERING
April 14-15, 2011 - B!", RO#ANIA
w velocit( component in 1@
direction
densit(
* d(namic viscosit(
The eAuations describe the fluid flow and heat transfer under stead(@state conditions for "artesian geometries.
42 NU#ERICAL SI#ULATION USING FINITE ELE#ENT #ETHOD
'/% is used to discretize the flow domain, thereb( transforming the governing partial differential eAuations into
a set of algebraic eAuations whose solution represents an approximation to the exact anal(tical solution.
/Auations used for calculation were solved using two modeling software: "omsol and "#$%#$ & 'low. The
programs performed con)ugate heat transfer anal(ses. "on)ugate heat transfer includes both fluid convection and
solid conduction. 'or this case, in "#$%#$&'low the stud( is fluid flow t(pe and the anal(sis is thermal (result
t(pe: permanent or transient, the iterative resolving techniAue: !ewton@6aphson scheme, initial temperature and
calculus tolerance 475. *n "omsol %ultiph(sics it used General Ceat Transfer %odul 4-5. *t applied mesh, the
disparagement mode. *t is ver( important to reali1e the mesh with great accuratel(. The mesh Aualit( depends on
the active mesh options. *n this case, the Aualit( of mesh is high (.,@node tetrahedral. %esh t(pe is solid mesh.
'igure 3 show the mesh for the second studied case: flat wall with thermal insulated.
'ig. +. %esh for flat wall with thermal insulated
!ext boundar( conditions are apllied:
Table 3. 9oundar( conditions
"ases hi he (si (se + +is
:&m
+
; :&m
+
;
o
"
o
" m m
"ase . +2 > .+,.,+ @.7,3<? ,,+ ,
"ase + +2 > .?,+<? @.?,,>- ,,+ ,,,7
"ase 3 +2 > .>,32? @.?,22- ,,+ ,,.
9oundar( conditions are 'ourier conditions @ imposing temperatures on the wall surface and heat transfer
coefficients. "#$%#$&'low and "omsol automaticall( impose boundar( conditions Dirichlet and !eumann.
!otations for parameters from Table 3 are shown in 'igure 3.
Tpi
8TH INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON INDUSTRIAL POWER ENGINEERING
April 14-15, 2011 - B!", RO#ANIA
A
Tsi
Tse
'ig. 3. Temperature distribution in a homogeneous la(er, for stead(@state conditions
'or stationar( thermal regime, it can write the heat balance eAuation 4<5, 4?5:
( ) ( )
. .
i i i e
i
( ( ( (
R R

(<
:here, outside the previousl( defined notations, (i 4
o
"5 @ the wall inner surface temperature, Ri 4m
+
;&:5 @
thermal resistance to heat transfer from the air inside the building , Re 4m
+
;&:5 @.thermal resistance to heat
transfer from the air outside the wall considered% R 4m
+
;&:5 @ overall thermal resistance.

. . . .
D D

i e
i e i e
R R R
h h h h

+ +
(?
*t determine the temperature wall to the inner surface:
( )
i
si i i e
R
( ( ( (
R

(>
*n the same mode, it calculates temperature of the exterior wall:
( )
e
se e i e
R
( ( ( (
R
+
(-
The determinated values for Tsi and Tse are used for numerical simulations in "omsol %ultiph(sics and
"#$%#$&'low. 'or case + and case 3, these temperatures are calculated in similar mode.
6esults are presented both graphical and numerical form, like in figure 2 and figure 7.
Ti
Te
Hp
hi
he
Ip
8TH INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON INDUSTRIAL POWER ENGINEERING
April 14-15, 2011 - B!", RO#ANIA
a b c
'ig. 2. Temperature distributions: a@non insulated wallD b@wall with 7 cm tickness insulation D c@ wall with ., cm
tickness insulation
a b c
'ig. 7. Temperature distributions: a@non insulated wallD b@wall with 7 cm tickness insulation D c@ wall with ., cm
tickness insulation
32 CONCLUSIONS
Falues obtained for the temperature and heat flux and overall heat transfer coefficient are in according with
calculated values. $o , dor heat flux are obtained next values:
"ase .:AJ<3..?>? :&m
+
"ase+: AJ+.,><>2 :&m
+
"ase 3: AJ.3, ++,2 :&m
+
The models developed using the program "#$%#$& 'low and "omsol %ultiph(sics prove ver( important tools
for the stud( of heat transfer in a flat wall. *n the sometime, the models are perfectible and offer good
information about the behavior of flat wall in different conditions of temperature and it can be integrated in a
complex construction.
8TH INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON INDUSTRIAL POWER ENGINEERING
April 14-15, 2011 - B!", RO#ANIA
REFERENCES
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4+5 Directive +,.,&3.&/0 of TC/ /06#8/B! 8B6K*B%/!T B!D #' TC/ "#0!"*K of .- %a( +,.,
on the energ( performance of buildings, #fficial =ournal of the /uropean 0nion, .>.<.+,.,
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