Thermal response of wall implanted with heat pipes: Experimental analysis

A wall implanted with heat pipes (WIHP) features effective heat transfer between indoor and outdoor environments due to the pipe’s unidirectional thermal conductivity; the implant also resolves the contradiction between the wall’s insulation and solar energy utilization. The thermal performance of walls is crucial in terms of reducing a building’s energy consumption and improving its indoor thermal environment. The heat transfer process of the condensing section is the focus of the present study. We establish a dynamic heat transfer model of the condensing section based on the Z-transfer function, and introduces the temperature rise coefficient (TRC) concept. The thermal response characteristics of an ordinary wall and WIHP are determined via theoretical analysis and experimentation. The WIHP shows a faster thermal response to weather variations than the ordinary wall. In a typical day, the efficient heat transfer and long running time (7 h 30 min) of the heat pipe improve the average inside-surface temperature of the WIHP by 0.5 °C and the average TRC by 0.16. A portion of the heat released from the pipe is also stored by the wall, which staves off temperature attenuation and minimizes temperature fluctuations in the inside surface, thereby creating a more comfortable indoor thermal environment.