Thermal Barrier: indirect heating and cooling technique of residential buildings

The paper presents a concept of an indirect heating and cooling technique of residential buildings driven by solar thermal radiation called Thermal Barrier (TB), which is composed of polypropylene pipes located inside of external walls. Fluid flows inside a pipe system with a variable mass flow rate and variable supply temperature. This creates a semi-surface parallel to wall surfaces and a spatially averaged temperature is almost constant and close to the reference temperature all year round. The TB technique is used to stabilize and reduce heat flux normal to the wall surface and to maintain its direction from internal air out to ambient air during the entire year. The aim of the paper is to investigate numerically the thermal performance and stability of TB with the reference temperature of 19°C. The FE analysis is supported by a novel SVC control system implemented in FORTRAN to simulate real-working conditions. The advantages of the TB heating/cooling technique are outlined.