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Quantitative infrared thermography imaging of the density of heat flow rate through a building element surface

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  • Ohlsson, K.E.A.
  • Olofsson, T.

Abstract

Infrared thermography is often used to record an image of the building envelope surface temperature, and thereby acquire qualitative information on its thermal insulation performance. Recently, a thermography method has evolved, which enables quantitative measurement of the 2-dimensional pattern of the density of heat flow rate (q) across the building element surface. However, based on previous estimates of its measurement uncertainty, the capacity of the thermography method to yield accurate results has been questioned. We present here an improved procedure for measurement of q, with an evaluation of measurement errors. The main improvement consists of the simultaneous measurement of surface temperature, surrounding radiative temperature, and air temperature, based on information included in one single thermal camera image. This arrangement allows for accurate measurements of small temperatures differences, and thereby reduced uncertainty in the measurement of q. The measurement bias was evaluated experimentally by a comparison of thermography results against a reference method. Under natural convective conditions, there was a 2.6Wm−2 constant difference between the two methods. The measurement uncertainty u(q) was estimated as a function of q. Based on this, the lower limit of the measurement working range was determined to be 6Wm−2, which corresponds to less than 10% relative uncertainty. In the case of forced convection, the thermography method yielded less reliable results. The reason for this was the sensitivity of the results to the choice of model for the convective heat transfer coefficient, and the difficulty to select the position for measurement of the wind speed, which is appropriate for this model.

Suggested Citation

  • Ohlsson, K.E.A. & Olofsson, T., 2014. "Quantitative infrared thermography imaging of the density of heat flow rate through a building element surface," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 134(C), pages 499-505.
  • Handle: RePEc:eee:appene:v:134:y:2014:i:c:p:499-505
    DOI: 10.1016/j.apenergy.2014.08.058
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Fokaides, Paris A. & Kalogirou, Soteris A., 2011. "Application of infrared thermography for the determination of the overall heat transfer coefficient (U-Value) in building envelopes," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 88(12), pages 4358-4365.
    2. Asdrubali, Francesco & Baldinelli, Giorgio & Bianchi, Francesco, 2012. "A quantitative methodology to evaluate thermal bridges in buildings," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 97(C), pages 365-373.
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    Cited by:

    1. Lee, Junghun & Kim, Jeonggook & Song, Doosam & Kim, Jonghun & Jang, Cheolyong, 2017. "Impact of external insulation and internal thermal density upon energy consumption of buildings in a temperate climate with four distinct seasons," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 75(C), pages 1081-1088.
    2. Baldinelli, Giorgio & Bianchi, Francesco & Rotili, Antonella & Costarelli, Danilo & Seracini, Marco & Vinti, Gianluca & Asdrubali, Francesco & Evangelisti, Luca, 2018. "A model for the improvement of thermal bridges quantitative assessment by infrared thermography," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 211(C), pages 854-864.
    3. Bienvenido-Huertas, David & Moyano, Juan & Rodríguez-Jiménez, Carlos E. & Marín, David, 2019. "Applying an artificial neural network to assess thermal transmittance in walls by means of the thermometric method," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 233, pages 1-14.
    4. Lucchi, Elena, 2018. "Applications of the infrared thermography in the energy audit of buildings: A review," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 82(P3), pages 3077-3090.
    5. Bienvenido-Huertas, David & Moyano, Juan & Marín, David & Fresco-Contreras, Rafael, 2019. "Review of in situ methods for assessing the thermal transmittance of walls," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 102(C), pages 356-371.

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