Analytical and experimental analyses on cooling performances of radiative SkyCool radiators with various interior flowing channels

Abstract

This study presents an analytical model for the radiative SkyCool radiators (RSCR) with various interior flowing channels by using Laplace transformations. Moreover, the convolution theory is applied to solve the problem of nonuniform temperature distribution on the RSCR. Then, an outdoor experiment is carried out to verify the proposed model. Subsequently, the influence of different channel geometries, flow rates, tilt angles and wind velocities on the cooling performances of RSCRs are investigated. The results indicate that increasing the RSCR's length, enlarging the pipe spacing, and decreasing the flow rate and thickness of RSCR can definitely intensify the cooling performances. The application suggestions for S-channel RSCR (SRSCR) and I-channel RSCR (IRSCR) are given. When the pipe spacing ratio is smaller than five, the IRSCR is recommended because of lower thermal interferences. By contrast, SRSCR is recommended once the dimensionless pipe spacing is greater than ten. For cases with smaller tilt angles but larger wind velocities, IRSCR is suggested, while SRSCR is prioritized for cases with opposite conditions. This research provides an effective analytical tool in the evaluation of cooling power generation by producing cold water, contributing valuable insights for the optimization of cooling efficiencies of RSCRs under varied configuration scenarios.