Heat and Moisture Relevant In Situ Measurements in a Railway Passenger Vehicle Driving through the Swiss Alpine Region

Rädle, Wolfgang; Ghazi Wakili, Karim; Geyer, Christoph; Hausammann, Roman; Uehlinger, Urs (2022). Heat and Moisture Relevant In Situ Measurements in a Railway Passenger Vehicle Driving through the Swiss Alpine Region Sustainability, 14(12), pp. 1-20. MDPI 10.3390/su14127462

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Transportation is a major sector of energy consumption in most, if not in all, European countries. Besides the energy used for traction, energy is also consumed for ventilation, heating, and cooling inside the vehicles to assure traveler comfort. This issue gains increasing importance as the demand for public transport increases in the future. There is a need for retrofit to improve the thermal resistance of the envelope of existing vehicles to reduce the heat loss to the environment during the cold period of the year, especially in the Alpine region. A major concern in adding insulation material to the envelope is the possibility of convective moisture transfer due to air circulation in the vehicle, which would cause condensation accumulation on the cold surfaces. The present investigation addresses this topic by measuring surface and air temperature, air moisture, air flow, and heat flow at several critical locations of a vehicle during its travel in the Swiss Alpine region over several months during the cold period of the year. Temperature measurements showed the potential of reducing the heat losses in some parts of the vehicle. The level and duration of the moisture exposure did not suggest a relevant formation of condensation in the cross-section of the vehicle wall. The observed increase in relative humidity when driving through tunnels is too short to cause relevant condensation in the vehicle shell. The measured low air flow justifies the assumption that no forced convection occurs in the envelope cavities.

Item Type:

Journal Article (Original Article)

Division/Institute:

School of Architecture, Wood and Civil Engineering
School of Architecture, Wood and Civil Engineering > Institute for Timber Construction, Structures and Architecture
School of Architecture, Wood and Civil Engineering > Institute for Timber Construction, Structures and Architecture > Windows, Doors and Façades
School of Architecture, Wood and Civil Engineering > Institute for Timber Construction, Structures and Architecture > Building Physics
BFH Centres and strategic thematic fields > BFH Centre for Wood - Resource and Material
School of Architecture, Wood and Civil Engineering > Institute for Timber Construction IHB
School of Architecture, Wood and Civil Engineering > Institute for Timber Construction IHB > Building Envelope and Building Physics group FGGB

Name:

Rädle, Wolfgang;
Ghazi Wakili, Karim;
Geyer, Christoph;
Hausammann, Roman and
Uehlinger, Urs

Subjects:

T Technology > T Technology (General)
T Technology > TH Building construction

ISSN:

2071-1050

Publisher:

MDPI

Language:

English

Submitter:

Corinne Amstutz Hugi

Date Deposited:

10 Jan 2023 16:05

Last Modified:

10 Jan 2023 16:05

Publisher DOI:

10.3390/su14127462

Uncontrolled Keywords:

railway vehicle; in situ measurement; vehicle envelope; moisture transfer; retrofit; heat loss

ARBOR DOI:

10.24451/arbor.18510

URI:

https://arbor.bfh.ch/id/eprint/18510

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