Thermal Storage Performance of Underground Cave Dwellings under Kang Intermittent Heating: A Case Study of Northern China

Abstract

The intermittent heating mode of Kang plays an important role in the heat storage and release in cave dwellings. However, research on the effect of Kang heating on the thermal process of traditional buildings is rare. Therefore, based on long-term monitoring of cave dwellings, regular conclusions about the influence of Kang heating on the thermal environment were obtained. Furthermore, an unsteady heat transfer model of the envelope was proposed for the first time. Then, based on this model, the thermal storage performance of cave dwellings during the period of Kang intermittent heating was explored. The results showed that, due to Kang heating, the indoor air temperature of cave dwellings could be increased by an average of 3.1 °C. Furthermore, the inner walls had a large thermal mass and the maximum heat storage in a single day was 487.75 kJ/m2, while the maximum heat release was 419.02 kJ/m2. The heat release at night could reach 87%. In this paper, the law of thermal storage and release characteristics of earthen building envelopes under intermittent heating was firstly obtained. Results can enrich the thermal process theory of earthen buildings and provide a theoretical basis and technical support for building thermal environmental construction.