Investigation of dynamic start-up and thermal airflow characteristics for air-carrying energy heating and cooling system: Sidewall, ceiling, and composite walls

Abstract

The dynamic start-up process of the air-carrying energy radiant system (ACERS) is crucial for operation control. The dynamic heat transfer process of sidewall, ceiling, and composite walls for air-carrying energy heating and cooling systems was investigated using field experiments and numerical simulation. A new dynamic start-up model was proposed to rapidly predict the dynamic response time and heat transfer surface temperature for controlling indoor temperature. Six schemes with different thermal flow characteristics resulting from temperature difference and velocity uniformity were quantitatively studied through numerical simulation, which helps determine their rationality. The results show that the dynamic start-up model aligns well with experimental data, with an error of less than 3 %. The fast response time of the air medium heat transfer surface for heating/cooling is short (less than 0.5 h). The ceiling provides better adjustability compared to the sidewall. In the unstable state (Gc < 0), the Gc-related buoyancy has a vertical promotion effect, leading to increased convection and decreased vertical temperature difference in the room. Adding the sidewall heating to the ceiling heating reduces the indoor vertical temperature difference by 23 % for the composite walls heating compared to the ceiling heating. Convection accounts for 27 % of the sidewall heating, which is 2.7 times higher than that of ceiling heating (11 %). Combining the dynamic start-up model with numerical analysis enables rapid prediction and analysis of the thermal performance of ACERS, which can be applied to advanced control and optimization for energy-saving applications.