Professional Documents
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BAR029
Ar. Jatish B.
Thermal Mass
• What is Thermal Mass?
• Types of Thermal Mass
• Historical Applications
• Thermal Properties of Materials
• Analyzing Heat/Cool Storage
• Strategies
• Other Factors
Thermal Mass
• Thermal mass refers to materials have the
capacity to store thermal energy for
extended periods.
• Thermal mass can be
used effectively to
absorb daytime heat
gains (reducing cooling
load) and release the
heat during the night
(reducing heat load).
Types of Thermal Mass
• Traditional types of thermal mass include
water, rock, earth, brick, concrete, fibrous
cement and ceramic tile.
• Phase change materials store energy while
maintaining constant temperatures, using
chemical bonds to store & release latent heat.
PCM’s include solid-liquid Glauber’s salt, paraffin wax, and the newer
solid-solid linear crystalline alkyl hydrocarbons (K-18: 77oF phase
transformation temperature). PCM’s can store five to fourteen times
more heat per unit volume than traditional materials. (source: US
Department of Energy).
Historical Applications
• The use of thermal mass in shelter dates
back to the dawn of humans, and until
recently has been the prevailing strategy for
building climate control in hot regions.
Thus, the total heat storage capacity is a function of the total mass
of masonry materials, regardless of its type (concrete, brick,
stone, and earth).
Material Density(kg/m3)
Concrete 600-2200
Stone 1900-2500
Bricks 1500-1900
Earth 1000-1500 (uncompressed)
Earth 1700-2200 (compressed)
• The more porous a material, the greater the increase in conductivity
with increased moisture content.
• Whilst conductivity and resistivity are properties of a material, the
corresponding properties of a body of a given thickness are
described as conductance (C). Conductance is the heat flow rate
through a unit area of the body (i.e. the density of heat flow rate)
when the temperature .difference between the two surfaces is 1
degC.
• In addition to the resistance of a body to the flow of heat , a
resistance will be offered by its surfaces, where a thin layer of air
film separates the body from the surrounding air. A measure of this
is the surface or film-resistance, denoted thus: 1 /f (m2 degC/W) f
being the surface or film-conductance (W/m2 degC). Conductance
has been defined in these terms. If the heat flow from air on one
side, through the body, to air on the other side is considered, both
surface resistances must be taken into account. R =1/f + R’ + 1/f
• The reciprocal of this air-to-air resistance is the air-to-air
transmittance, or U –value. This is the quantity most often used in
building heat loss and heat gain problems, as its use greatly
simplifies the calculations. Values for everyday constructions are
given but if the U value of a particular construction is not found in
the table, it can be computed from its component factors . Its unit of
measurement is the same as for conductance — W/m2 deg C , the
only difference being that here the air temperature difference (and
not the surface temperature difference) will be taken into account.
• If an air space or cavity is enclosed within a body, through which
the heat transfer is considered, this will offer another barrier to the
passage of heat. It is measured as the cavity resistance, (Rc) which
can be added to the other resistances described above.
• Radiation received by a surface can be partly absorbed and partly
reflected: the proportion of these two is expressed by
Absorbance (a) + Reflectance (r) = 1
for perfect black body : a = e (emittance)=1 & r = 0
• For building design purposes it is useful to combine the heating effect of
radiation incident on a building with the effect of warm air. This can be
done by using the sol-air temperature concept. A temperature value is
found, which would create the same thermal effect as the incident
radiation in question, and this value is added to the air temperature:
Ts = To + (I x a) / fo
– T0 = outside air temperature, in °C
– I = radiation intensity, in W/m2
– a = absorbance of the surface
– fo = surface conductance (outside), W/m2degC
• The solar gain factor is defined as the heat flow rate through the
construction due to solar radiation expressed as a fraction of the incident
solar radiation. As this value can be related to the increase in the inner
surface temperature, a performance requirement can be established on the
basis of experience, in terms of this solar gain factor.
q/I = (U x a) / fo
Thermal Time Constant
One of the more important mathematical constructs to imagine the
behavior of thermal mass is the Thermal Time Constant of an
building envelope, defined as the product of the heat capacity (Q)
and the resistance (R) to heat transmission. The TTC is
representative of the effective thermal capacity of a building.
To calculate the TTC of an area, the heat capacity per unit area (QA) is multiplied by the resistance to
heat flow of that area ( where QA=thickness*density*specific heat, R=thickness/conductivity).
In calculating the TTCA (TTC per area) of a composite wall, the QAR value of each layer, including
the outside and inside air layers, is calculated in sequence. The QAR for each layer is calculated from
the external wall to the center of the section in question, thus:
QAiRi= (cm*l*p)i*(R0+R1+…+0.5Ri)
For a composite surface of n layers, TTCA=QA1R1+QA2R2+…QAnRn .
The TTCs for each surface is the product of the TTCA multiplied by the area. Glazed areas are
assumed to have a TTC of 0. The total TTC total of the buliding envelope equals the sum of all TTCs
divided by the total envelope area, including the glazing areas.
Thermal inside
outside
mass
TTC = 43.8
Wall 2: interior insulation
Thermal
outside inside
mass