3D temperature field in a thermal zone

An interesting feature of ALMABuild is that it becomes possible to reconstruct the 3D temperature distribution within a thermal zone thanks to the solution of a series of local energy balance equations. Three different approaches are available: radiative, convective and fully detailed models. The main features of the radiative and convective models is the possibility to evaluate the 3D spatial distribution in a room of both the radiative and air temperature, respectively, based on a spatial discretization set by the user. In addition, the fully detailed model enables the calculation of the spatial distribution of the operative temperature, by coupling radiative and convective models.

Four different typologies of heat emitters are compared each to other:

• Emitter A1: typical underfloor heating system in which pipes are immersed in the floor screed (radiant floor);
• Emitter A2: heating system obtained by immersing pipes in the ceiling mass (radiant ceiling);
• Emitter A3: light suspended insulated panels made in drywall in which the pipes are immersed (radiant suspended ceiling);
• Emitter A4: hot water radiator.

In the Figure below it is possible to appreciate the 3D temperature distribution in a room as a function of the emitter typology.