International Journal of Thermal Sciences 44 (2005) 1154–1160

www.elsevier.com/locate/ijts

Second law analysis of periodic heat conduction through a wall

Françoise Strub a,∗ , Jean Castaing-Lasvignottes a , Michel Strub a ,
Michel Pons b , Françoise Monchoux c
a Laboratoire de Thermique Energétique et Procédés (LaTEP), Avenue de l’Université, BP 1155, F-64013 Pau cedex, France
b Laboratoire d’Informatique pour la Mécanique et les Sciences de l’Ingénieur (LIMSI), BP 133, F-91403 Orsay cedex, France
c Laboratoire Physique de l’Homme Appliquée à Son Environnement (PHASE), Bâtiment 3R1 b2, Université Paul Sabatier,
118 route de Narbonne, F-31062 Toulouse cedex 04, France
Received 25 April 2005; accepted 10 September 2005
Available online 25 October 2005

Abstract
Periodic heat conduction through a wall is a simple model for the behaviour of a building wall submitted to climatic temperature changes.
Beyond the well-known definition of heat transfer, the present concern is thermodynamics, through two quantities. The first quantity is the total
entropy generation (total over time period and wall thickness). Formal derivation shows that from this point of view also, the phenomenon is the
superposition of stationary linear heat-conduction plus periodic heat-diffusion around a uniform temperature. The second quantity is defined by
considering ideal Carnot cycles that would maintain the inner space at a prescribed temperature. Parameters that influence either quantities are
explored, evidencing values of the wall thickness beyond which there does not seem to be any interest in increasing the wall thickness.
 2005 Elsevier SAS. All rights reserved.

Keywords: Periodic heat transfer; Entropy generation; Second law analysis

1. Introduction
From the strict point of view of heat transfer, heat diffusion
through a solid wall is very well known. As soon as the bound-
ary conditions are simple enough, analytical solutions exist for
temperature as a function of time and position, and therefore
for the temperature gradient as well. So it is for the problem in-
vestigated herein, where the external temperature is assumed to
be a cosine function of time while the internal temperature re-
mains constant. This very simple configuration is a first-order
model of a building wall submitted to the alternation day-night
on the external side while the internal temperature is expected
to be as stable as possible for sake of comfort.
Heat-diffusion through the wall plays two roles: first, the
thermal resistance between the outside and the inside reduces
the heat flux transmitted in average; second, thermal inertia in-
duces a phase offset between the outside temperature and the
instantaneous heat flux transmitted to the inside space. The
* Corresponding author.
E-mail address: francoise.strub@reniv-pau.fr (F. Strub).
1290-0729/$ – see front matter  2005 Elsevier SAS. All rights reserved.
doi:10.1016/j.ijthermalsci.2005.09.004
latter property is currently more and more thought of for re-
ducing the energy consumed in HVAC (heating, ventilation
and air-conditioning) systems [1–3]. Such an application makes
that academic heat-transfer problem enter the field of process
analyses. One question then arises: can an optimal thickness be
defined for the wall from the strict point of view of thermody-
namics without considering mechanical resistance or cost?
Engineering sciences have developed different tools, among
them ideal processes, second-law analysis (entropy or exergy)
and optimisation [4]. One thermodynamic characteristic of the
present problem is that the temperature of one heat source, the
ambient air, varies within a range [T0 ±
T ], when thermody-
namics usually defines each heat source by a prescribed temper-
ature. In addition, as the non-constant temperature is the ambi-
ent, exergy analysis is not as straightforward as in textbooks.
It must also be mentioned that heat sources with varying tem-
peratures is an emerging problem in Refs. [5,6], a problem that
might require to revisit the usual framework of process analysis.
On that purpose, the present problem is oversimplified. As heat-
diffusion is the only source of irreversibility, deriving the local
rate of entropy-production density as a function of time and po-
 F. Strub et al. / International Journal of Thermal Sciences 44 (2005) 1154–1160 1155

Nomenclature

c heat capacity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . J·kg−1 ·K−1 θ0 reduced temperature fluctuation
T /T0

d depth of the wall . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . m δi ṡ local rate of entropy generation
Js entropy flux density . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . W·K−1 ·m−2 density . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . W·K−1 ·m−3
JS exchanged entropy density . . . . . . . . . . J·K−1 ·m−2
i S density of entropy generation . . . . . . . . J·K−1 ·m−2
k thermal conductivity of the wall δSlp correction on the entropy balance . . . . J·K−1 ·m−2
material . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . W·m−1 ·K−1 δT periodic fluctuation of temperature at position x K
q heat −2
√ flux density . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . W·m−1
T amplitude of the temperature signal at the external
r ω/2α . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . m
wall . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . K
t time . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . s
tp cycle period . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 86400 s ρ density . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . kg·m−3
T temperature . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . K ω pulsation corresponding to a 24-hour period,
T0 average temperature of the external face . . . . . . K = π/43200 s−1
w work density . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . W·m−2 Subscripts
W work density . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . J·m−2
e external
x position . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . m
i internal
Greek letters lin or l linear
α thermal diffusivity of the wall material . . . m2 ·s−1 per or p periodic

sition is as easy as deriving the temperature [7]. However, to

the authors knowledge, Ref. [8] is the only attempt, unfortu-
nately incomplete, to analyse the total entropy generation. Such
an analysis makes the first part of this paper.
Another way to highlight and quantify the effect (hopefully
positive) of the phase offset between temperature and heat flux
is investigated in the second part. This is done by coupling the
process of heat-diffusion through the wall to a versatile Carnot
cycle that would counterbalance exactly the heat-flux transmit-
ted by the wall. For both approaches, the sensitivity of the
results with respect to heat capacity or climatic conditions is
studied. Fig. 1. Schematic representation of the studied case.

2. Case under study change of any state function (e.g., temperature, internal energy
and entropy) is zero over a period.
Let us consider a wall, solid, single-phase, and homoge- According to the partial derivative equation (∂T /∂t =
neous, schematically a building wall that would stand between α∂ 2 T /∂x 2 ) and to the boundary conditions, it is easily shown
the outside where temperature fluctuates, and the inside where that the solution for temperature is the sum of a linear compo-
temperature is ideally constant. These boundary conditions are: nent between T0 and Ti (denoted linear in the following) plus
a purely sinusoidal component (denoted periodic in the follow-
T (x = 0, t) = T0 −
T cos ωt ing): T (x, t) = Tlin (x) + δTper (x, t), with
x
T (x = d, t) = Ti = const (1) Tlin (x) = T0 + (Ti − T0 ) (2)
d
The configuration is shown in Fig. 1. The amplitude of the and


outside-temperature fluctuation,
T , is arbitrarily fixed at 15 K. δTper (x, t) =
T Acos (x) cos(ωt) + Asin (x) sin(ωt) (3)
The inner temperature Ti is fixed at 25 ◦ C. We also consider with
three values of T0 : 35 ◦ C, called “standard case” in the fol- cosh(rx) cos(2rd − rx) − cos(rx) cosh(2rd − rx)
lowing and more or less representing conditions in summer; Acos (x) =
cosh(2rd) − cos(2rd)
25 ◦ C, with equality between T0 and Ti , as it often occurs
in spring or autumn; and 15 ◦ C, that we schematically denote and
sinh(rx) sin(2rd − rx) − sin(rx) sinh(2rd − rx)
as winter. The standard material of the wall is defined by: Asin (x) =
ρc = 1.5 × 106 J·m−3 ·K−1 , and k = 1.5 W·m−1 ·K−1 . cosh(2rd) − cos(2rd)
√
Only the periodic regime is considered. After the period tp , where r stands for ω/2α. From those equations, it can easily
the wall recovers the same thermodynamical state, and the be seen that the heat flux density q (given by the Fourier’s law:
1156 F. Strub et al. / International Journal of Thermal Sciences 44 (2005) 1154–1160

q = −k∂T /∂x) is the sum of two components, a constant and T0 [1 − (
T /T0 ) cos ωt]. The entropy flux involves 1/T . De-
uniform one derived from the gradient of Tlin , plus a purely noting
T /T0 as θ0 , which surely is less than one (in our
−1 is:
periodic one derived from the gradient of δTper . The total heat case θ 0 ≈ 0.05), the expansion in series of [Te (t)]
−1 ∞ n n
flux density is thus: (T0 ) n=0 θ0 cos ωt. In the following, this expansion will
T 0 − Ti ∂δTper (x, t) be limited to the first terms and the notation θ0 is used only in
q(x, t) = qlin + qper (x, t) = k −k (4) series expansions. As for heat flux, the linear and periodic parts
d ∂x s and J s in rates, are considered. The
of the entropy flux, Je,l e,p
At this point of the development, let us refer to the well-known s = q /T (t). Developing [T (t)]−1 as
former is obviously Je,l lin e e
problem of the 1D semi-infinite wall submitted to a cosine tem-
described above up to n = 2, and remembering that only the
perature change on its boundary x = 0. With our notations,
even powers of cos ωt have non-zero integrals over the cycle
the periodical solution for temperature is: T (x, t) = T0 +
T
period, leads to the entropy flux over a cycle:
e−rx cos(ωt − rx).    
Inside the semi-infinite wall, the amplitude of the tempera- 1 1 2 k T0 − Ti 1 2
Je,l = tp qlin
S
1 + θ 0 = tp 1 + θ0
ture signal decreases as e−rx , i.e. the amplitude is 10% of the T0 2 d T0 2
external constraint
T for rx = 2.3 (x = 0.38 m for our stan-
The periodic part of Jes involves the periodic part of the heat
dard case), and only 5% for rx = 3 (x = 0.5 m idem). It can
flux density at x = 0, given by:
reasonably be said that the external temperature signal is almost
completely filtered beyond the position x = 0.5 m. qper (0, t)
In the present problem, the wall depth is finite and tempera-
= −kr
T
ture is fixed at the internal boundary; moreover we are mainly
(sin 2rd + sinh2rd) cos ωt + (sin 2rd − sinh2rd) sin ωt
interested in heat fluxes. If one compares the amplitudes of the ×
(periodical) heat flux density, first at the internal boundary of cosh2rd − cos 2rd
the finite wall with depth d, and second at the position x = d The time dependence involves terms in cos ωt and terms in
in the semi-infinite wall, then, for d > 0.1 m, the former am- sin ωt. Combination with the expansion of [Te (t)]−1 yields
plitude is about twice the latter (exactly twice for thick walls). terms in θ0n cosn+1 ωt or in θ0n sin ωt cosn ωt. Here again, only
Indeed, fixing temperature at a given position is a constraint that the even powers of cos ωt have non-zero integrals over the cycle
increases the heat flux compared to the semi-infinite wall. As a s :
period. Additional algebra yields the time integral of Je,p
result, the internal boundary of a finite wall with d = 0.5 m is  
as active as the position x = 0.38 m in the semi-infinite wall, so
T (sin 2rd + sinh 2rd) θ0 3 2
Je,p = −tp kr
S
1 + θ0 (7)
that considering walls as thick as 0.5 m is relevant in the present T0 (cosh 2rd − cos 2rd) 2 4
problem. The entropy fluxes can be rearranged differently, evidencing
an interesting property of the total entropy generation. Indeed,
3. Analysis based on entropy generation Eq. (5) can be rewritten as:
i S = (Ji,l S + J S ) − (J S + J S )
i,p e,l e,p
or
i S = (Ji,l − Je,l ) + (Ji,p − Je,p ), a form which introduces
S S S S
The local rate of entropy generation density in one-dimen-
sional heat diffusion is well known: δi ṡ = q∂(1/T )/∂x [4,7,9]. the two following quantities
i Sl∗ = Ji,l S − J S and
S =
e,l i p

Once T and q are known, integration of δi ṡ over space and time Ji,p − Je,p . Simple developments with the first terms of the
S S

yields the total entropy generation over the cycle. However, in above-described expansions lead to:
the periodic regime, the analysis is easier to develop when con-  
1 1 tp qlin θ02
sidering the rates of entropy flux densities (J s = q/T ) at the
i Sl∗ = tp qlin − − =
i Sl + δSlp (8)
Ti T0 T0 2
boundaries, the balance of which, integrated over the cycle pe-
riod tp , is the total entropy generation
i S: with

tp tp k (T0 − Ti )2 k (T0 − T )
T θ0

i Sl = tp and δSlp = −tp

i S = Jis dt − Jes dt (5) d T0 Ti d T02 2
0 0 and
 
The two integrals appearing in Eq. (5) are now developed sepa-
T 2 (sin 2rd + sinh 2rd) 3 2
rately. At the internal boundary, x = d, the temperature is fixed
i Sp = tp kr 1 + θ (9)
2T02 (cosh 2rd − cos 2rd) 4 0
at Ti . Developing the heat flux according to Eq. (4), and consid-
ering that the integral of the periodic part over the cycle period This development demonstrates that the total entropy genera-
S = 0), it appears that the total entropy flux density
vanishes (Ji,p tion can be represented as the sum of three quantities. The first,
at the internal boundary only involves the stationary heat flux:
i Sl , is the entropy generation of stationary heat conduction
along the average linear temperature gradient;
i Sl is com-
qlin k T0 − Ti
JiS ≡ Ji,l
S
= tp = tp (6) pletely independent of
T . The second,
i Sp , is the entropy
Ti d Ti generation of purely periodic heat diffusion in the wall oscillat-
At the external face (x = 0), the boundary condition (1) ing around the temperature T0 with Eq. (1) as constraint;
i Sp
can be written slightly differently: T (x = 0, t) = Te (t) = is completely independent of Ti . The third quantity, δSlp , is
 F. Strub et al. / International Journal of Thermal Sciences 44 (2005) 1154–1160
only a correction (on the order of θ0 when compared to
i Sl )
with a sign opposite to that of (T0 − Ti ).
Fig. 2 presents the curves
i Sl ,
i Sp , and
i S as functions
of the wall depth d for the standard case. Several features are
noteworthy. First, the curve (
i Sl +
i Sp ) is a very good ap-
proximation of
i S: the total entropy generation is practically
the sum of stationary heat conduction through the wall between
T0 and Ti , plus periodic heat diffusion in the wall averagely
at T0 . Second,
i Sl and
i Sp are very similar for thin walls
(d < 0.1 m), but for thick walls (d > 0.5 m) the former tends to
vanish while the latter tends toward an asymptotic value. Third,
the periodic entropy generation
i Sp exhibits a minimum at
a position (d = π/2r = 0.26 m in the present case) beyond
which
i Sp hardly changes. As a consequence the curve
i S
presents a knee at that same abscissa. According to these re-
sults, it could be deduced that the only effect of increasing the
wall thickness beyond that minimum consists in reducing heat
conduction thanks to a larger thermal resistance, without any
effect related to the periodic heat conduction. The next section
will demonstrate that such a deduction would be wrong.
Before that, Fig. 3 shows how the total entropy generation
depends on the wall heat capacity ρc: when ρc increases, so
does the entropy generation, while the heat flux transmitted
in average, qlin , remains unchanged, cf. Eq. (4). The features
of these curves can be explained by remembering that among

i Sl , δSlp and
i Sp , only the latter depends on ρc.
Fig. 2. Entropy generations as a function of the wall depth d. Linear component
(
i Sl ), periodic component (
i Sp ), total (
i S), and sum (
i Sl +
i Sp ).
Fig. 3. Total entropy generation as a function of the wall depth d for different
values of heat capacity ρc.
1157
It is also interesting to highlight that entropy generation
presents two asymptotic behaviours. The first behaviour applies
to sufficiently small values of rd. Then,
i Sp is well approxi-
mated by a function in k/d and independent of r, just like
i Sl∗ .
The temperature profile in the wall is then always close to lin-
earity between Te (t) and Ti , thus following almost exactly the
time variation of Te (t). The second behaviour applies to suf-
ficiently large values of d and rd. Then,
i Sl∗ vanishes while

i Sp tends toward a finite value independent of d. The finite
wall then practically behaves like the semi-infinite one, as men-
tioned in the previous section.
4. Analysis based on ideal cycles
Now, the same problem is analysed again, but with a cri-
terion relying on the following idea. It has been seen that the
wall transmits to the inner space a heat flux, qi , periodic in time
with an amplitude and a phase offset that depend on the wall
characteristics, depth and material. In a real building, the in-
ternal temperature is maintained at its prescribed level if, and
only if, that heat flux qi is exactly counterbalanced by an op-
posite heat flux. In other words, a machine is installed in the
inner space, either for cooling or for heating. Thermodynami-
cally, this machine operates between the inside and the outside
air, and (a priori) consumes electricity. In order to quantify
the energy consumption of this machine without introducing
any other phenomenon (and especially any other source of irre-
versibility) than the effects of the wall alone, completely ideal
cycles are considered in the following. Those cycles are op-
erated reversibly (i.e., characterised by the Carnot efficiency),
free from any inertial effect, and perfectly versatile. Accord-
ing to the conditions, that ideal machine can act as a chiller or
as a heat-pump, and it will be seen that the case of a heat en-
gine (production of work instead of consumption) must not be
excluded.
As a practical example, let us consider the case T0 > Ti (as
in summertime) and a wall sufficiently inert with respect to heat
transfer. The external and internal heat fluxes, qe (t) and qi (t),
present phase offset with respect to the external temperature
Te (t). Fig. 4 shows qe (t), qi (t), Te (t), and Ti , for the stan-
dard case (d = 0.3 m; T0 = Ti + 10 K): it can be seen that qe
and qi have the same average value, qlin (50 W·m−2 in this
case), but the maximum of qi occurs some hours after that of
qe , i.e. at a moment when the ambient temperature might be
Table 1
Task of the ideal cycle and sign of consumed work in the cases combining the
respective signs of the heat flux and temperature difference between inside and
outside
qi (t) > 0 qi (t) < 0
Te (t) > Ti Case 1 Case 2
Air-conditioner Heat engine
w>0 w<0
Te (t) < Ti Case 3 Case 4
Heat engine Heat pump
w<0 w>0
The case numbers refer to the numbers reported in Figs. 4 and 5.
1158 F. Strub et al. / International Journal of Thermal Sciences 44 (2005) 1154–1160
Fig. 4. Time variation of qe (t), qi (t), Te (t), and Ti , for a 0.3 m-thick standard
wall with T0 = Ti + 10 K.
Fig. 5. Schematic representation of the four cases taken into account in the
analysis based on Carnot cycles.
close to, and even less than, the prescribed inside temperature.
This phase offset between qi and Te appears as the thermal
benefit of thick walls in traditional houses. Indeed, when the
outside air is warmer than Ti while qi is strong, maintaining
the inner space at Ti requires air-conditioning, which consumes
mechanical work (electrically produced). On the other hand, if
the outside air is cooler than Ti , natural ventilation can eas-
ily be used. Moreover, as two heat sources are available with
heat flux supplied to the warmer one, a quantity of mechanical
energy can theoretically be produced. As a result, depending
on the respective signs of the heat flux qi and of the temper-
ature difference between outside and inside [Te (t) − Ti ], the
ideal cycle either consumes, or produces, mechanical work. It
consumes work when it must be operated as an air-conditioner
Fig. 6. Net consumed work W as a function of the wall depth d for three differ-
ent values of ρc.
or a heat-pump, it produces work, theoretically, when it can
be operated as a heat-engine. The four possible situations are
described in Table 1 and Figs. 4 and 5. It can be seen that
situations which are not favourable for comfort (e.g., the wall
releases heat to the inner space when the external air is warm)
result in energy consumption, while situations rather favourable
for comfort (e.g. the wall withdraws heat from the inner space
when the external air is warm) result in energy production. Ap-
plying the Carnot efficiency in each of those four cases yields
an expression unique and valid in the four cases for the instanta-
neous work rate w(t) consumed in order to counterbalance the
heat flux qi
 
Te (t)
w(t) = qi (t) −1 (10)
Ti
When the ideal cycle works as a heat engine, w(t) is negative.
Integrating w(t) over the whole day yields a quantity called
net consumed work, a kind of measurement of how much the
wall produces altogether a reduction of the average heat flux
and a favourable phase
offset. Fig. 6 shows how the net con-
sumed work W = tp w(t) dt depends on the wall thickness in
the case (T0 = Ti + 10 K) and for three different values of ρc.
The standard case (ρc = 1.5 MJ·m−3 ·K−1 ; d = 0.3 m) yield-
ing the curves shown in Fig. 4 is marked by a dot. Generally,
the curves have two parts; in the first W decreases, more or
less rapidly depending on ρc, while the second part is rather a
plateau. An increase in heat capacity ρc reduces the value of the
net consumed work, a practical benefit of the phase offset which
seems in opposition with the increase in entropy generation ob-
served in Fig. 3. The presence of the plateau also shows that
beyond a certain value there is no benefit in increasing the wall
depth. For ρc = 3 MJ·m−3 ·K−1 , that value lies around 0.35 m,
for ρc = 1.5 MJ·m−3 ·K−1 it lies around 0.5 m. The latter value
is significantly larger than the value resulting from the analysis
based on entropy generation (0.26 m).
5. Seasonal influence
All the previous results are obtained with (T0 = Ti + 10 K),
which is roughly representative of summertime. It is important
to evaluate, at least qualitatively, the influence of the respective
positions of T0 and Ti , i.e. superiority, equality (as in spring
 F. Strub et al. / International Journal of Thermal Sciences 44 (2005) 1154–1160
Fig. 7. Total entropy generation as a function of the wall depth d for different
seasons and yearly averaged.
Fig. 8. Net consumed work W as a function of the wall depth d for different
seasons and yearly averaged.
or autumn) and inferiority (T0 = Ti − 10 K) roughly represen-
tative of wintertime. Let us call the difference between these
three cases seasonal, and yearly their average with a factor of 2
for spring-autumn, even when such denominations refer to phe-
nomena by far much complex than those presented herein. Only
the standard value of ρc is considered in this section.
Fig. 7 shows how the total entropy generation
i S de-
pends on the season. The curve for spring-autumn is practically
the curve
i Sp of Fig. 2, and it is a minimal envelope for
any other curve
i S. Indeed, when T0 = Ti ,
i Sl∗ vanishes,
and only periodic heat diffusion contributes to irreversibility
(
i S =
i Sp ). The curves summer and winter present a differ-
ence that arises from the influence of the absolute temperature
on entropy generation:
i Sl is in 1/T0 and
i Sp in 1/T02 , see
Eqs. (8) and (9), so that, for a given heat transfer, the entropy
generation increases when the temperature decreases. It is also
noteworthy that the season does not influence the general shape
of the curves, for instance the position of the above-mentioned
knee (d ≈ 0.26 m) is not modified when seasonal influence is
accounted for.
Fig. 8 shows how the net consumed work W depends on the
season. Here, the curves for winter and summer do not present
any difference. This is due to the symmetry of thermal condi-
tions, and to the even character of the function w with respect
to (T0 − Ti ), as can be easily inferred from Eq. (10). It is note-
worthy that the case (T0 = Ti )—spring/autumn—may lead to
1159
the theoretical possibility of work production (W < 0) instead
of energy consumption, if the wall thickness is in the adequate
range (0.4 m < d < 0.8 m in the present case). The apparent
paradox (how can a purely dissipative system help producing
mechanical work?) finds its origin in the temperature fluctu-
ations of the ambient heat source. For instance, although the
combined system [wall + ideal cycle] exchanges energy only
as heat and only with ambient air, it is not connected with an
unique heat source from the thermodynamic point of view. As
ambient temperature varies in the range T0 ±
T ; what we call
“the ambient” thermodynamically corresponds to an infinity of
heat sources. Due to the phase offset created by the inert wall,
that combined system [wall + ideal cycle] actually withdraws
heat from ambient when ambient is hot (i.e. from the hottest
heat sources), and rejects heat to ambient when ambient is cool
(i.e. to the coldest heat sources). In theory, mechanical work
might be produced by such heat exchanges.
Lastly, the curve for the yearly average also presents a mini-
mum, weak and located around d = 0.55 m; this indicates that,
qualitatively, the results obtained in the previous section do not
depend on what value T0 takes with respect to Ti .
6. Conclusion and perspectives
Heat-diffusion through a homogeneous wall submitted to
periodic temperature fluctuation on one face and constant tem-
perature on the other face is an academic problem which turns
out to be a thermodynamic challenge when it is thought as a
process, or part of a process. One reason of this difficulty is that
the temperature of ambient air fluctuates over the day-night pe-
riod, a common feature in the real world. The two approaches
developed herein, a strict analysis of the total entropy genera-
tion and a thermodynamic criterion constructed by combining
the wall to ideal cycles, lead to different, sometime opposite, re-
sults. The present study raises thus more questions than it brings
answers: which fundamental relations can exist between irre-
versibility and the consumed energy? Can a criterion be built-up
a priori in order to optimise the wall depth in theoretical con-
ditions, i.e. without knowing anything about the real HVAC
system? Which are the thermodynamic consequences of fluc-
tuating ambient temperature? Hopefully, the next steps of this
study will bring some new insight.
Acknowledgements
This work has been done in the framework of the PRI
CARNOT (Communauté d’Analyse et de Recherche sur les
Nouvelles Orientations de la Thermodynamique) funded by the
Programme Interdisciplinaire Énergie of CNRS.
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