Evolution of the Average Temperature of the Interior Atmosphere of a Habitable Cell Made of Foamed Concrete in Burkina Faso

Aims: The energy domain is responsible for the production of many gaseous, liquid and solid pollutants, strongly contributing to climate change. The provision of bioclimatic habitats to households is therefore necessary since it will contribute to the reduction of energy consumption. This work consists in making a study of the thermal behavior of a habitat designed with foamed concrete (FC) in order to evaluate its thermal performance for the improvement of its thermal comfort and to compare its average internal temperature with those of other materials.

Study Design: A calculation model developed under the COMSOL Multiphysics 5.3a software was used to simulate the thermal behavior of a foamed concrete habitat. The meteorological data used are those of Ouagadougou in the month of April (hottest month in Burkina Faso) on April 15, 2019 (with April 15, the hottest day of the year 2019)

Methodology: The temperatures of each side of the walls were determined. Moreover, the study of the influence of the thickness of the walls on the average internal temperature made it possible to determine an optimal thickness. Then, the thermal phase shift, the thermal amplitude reduction and the damping factor were carried out.

Results: The results obtained in the weather conditions of April in Ouagadougou, lead to an average internal temperature of the building of about 304 K, for a wall thickness of 17.5 cm. There is a thermal phase shift of 8 hours, and a reduction in thermal amplitude of 9°C or a damping factor of 8.6%. The maximum average internal temperature of the foamed concrete was compared with those of the cement block, the CEB, the adobe, the CLB which present respectively 311 K; 309.2K; 309K; 308.5K.

Conclusion: A building constructed with foamed concrete has a low average internal temperature compared to cinderblock, CEB, adobe and CLB. Thus, this material makes it possible to provide more thermal comfort and can be used for the construction of habitats with good energy efficiency.