Room heating by a radiator (natural convection)
Simulation of natural convection and temperature distribution in a radiator-heated room.
- Industry
- Building - Energy
- Physics
- Heat transfer - Natural convection
- Platform
- HPC cluster
Room heating by a radiator (natural convection)
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Objective
Demonstrate the model’s ability to reproduce natural convection phenomena in indoor environments and to estimate the temperature distribution in a heated room.
Simulation setup
The computational domain represents an enclosed room equipped with a radiator positioned against a wall. The simulation solves the coupled airflow and heat transfer problem in order to reproduce the natural convection generated by the heat source. The radiator, modeled from an STL geometry, acts as the thermal source of the system. This configuration makes it possible to study the formation of the thermal plume above the radiator, the recirculation patterns within the room, and the resulting temperature distribution throughout the indoor volume.
Results
The simulation highlights the formation of an upward thermal plume above the radiator, as well as the development of recirculation structures throughout the room. These airflow patterns induced by natural convection lead to thermal stratification, with higher temperatures observed near the ceiling. A quantitative analysis shows the time evolution of the average temperature measured at 1 m height within the room. This indicator makes it possible to track the heating of the occupied zone and to estimate a characteristic time for reaching a quasi-steady state.