Experimental Investigation of the Surface Temperature Distribution and Thermal Performance of an Intermittent Combustion Chinese Heated Wall

Abstract

Chinese heated walls represent a traditional space heating technique that is still widely used in vernacular houses in northern China. Such walls efficiently recover gas heat from heating stoves and reduce users′ exposures to indoor air pollution. This experimental study proposed a heat recovery system composed of a heated wall and fireplace. Test rooms were set up to evaluate the surface temperature distribution and thermal performance of the heated wall in response to several combustion patterns. The results show that an intermittent combustion heated wall heated only by a stove used for cooking can produce a relatively more comfortable indoor environment without extra energy consumption. In this research, indoor air temperature was increased by 3.3 to 4.0°C over the control room. The temperature distribution of the heated wall′s surface was nonuniform, with a temperature range of 116.03°C. It was also found that the combustion pattern had a major impact on the initial and peak temperatures of the wall body′s surface during combustion.