Development of Heat Recovery Radiant Heating System using Dynamic Insulation

Abstract

From various studies, it is said that floor heating is a more hygienic and comfortable heating system than air-conditioning heating. However, floor radiant heating does not use all of the energy used for indoor heating, and some of it causes heat loss to the underfloor space. This research proposes a heat recovery type radiant heating system that can recover heat radiation under the floor by applying dynamic insulation to the underfloor space. The purpose of this study is to examine the heat recovery effect and the risk for condensation by using the actual measurement and CFD simulation of the experiment module. To achieve this goal, using 2 m × 5 m × 2.5 m experiment module measurement with and without dynamic insulation during the heating period, the heat load, ventilation rate, and thermal environment were measured. Previously, according to the results of model measurements on a 1/3 scale of the experiment module, when the temperature difference between indoors and outdoors was 20 °C, a dynamic insulated floor radiant heating system was used to reduce the heat load by 23.8%. And, as the real-scale CFD simulation results, the heat load was reduced by up to 49% using the heat recovery radiant heating system. In order to confirm the risk of condensation during the cooling period, the relative humidity of the underfloor space was measured. When air is taken into the room from under the floor, there is a high possibility that condensation will occur during the cooling period. To reduce the risk of condensation, it is necessary to take air out of the room from under floor during the cooling period.