EXPERIMENTAL AND NUMERICAL INVESTIGATION OF A CONDENSATION REPELLENT RADIANT COOLING PANEL SYSTEM

Abstract

Radiant cooling panels (RCP) use controlled-temperature surfaces to provide heat transfer mainly by radiation. In this study, the performance of RCP system is investigated using experimental measurements and numerical calculations. In the experimental study, a radiant cooling panel system equipped with cooling coils was examined in a vacant room. The power consumption, condensation rate and thermal comfort were studied experimentally. A numerical model was also employed to study flow pattern inside the room and to predict temperature distributions. The flow field was obtained by solving the flow governing equations namely continuity, momentum and energy equations. The turbulent flow was solved by using Re-Normalization Group RNG k-e turbulence model. Heat transfer by radiation was modeled using Discrete Ordinates DO radiation model. The effect of the radiant panel surface temperature and exit air temperature from the panel were studied. The results showed that the used numerical technique could predict temperature distribution in the room with reasonable accuracy. It was found through this study that RCP provide thermal comfort and is energy efficient.