Numerical Analysis and Parametric Study of a Thermoelectric-Based Radiant Ceiling Panel for Building Cooling Applications

Abstract

Abstract Buildings are known as one of the foremost energy consumer sectors in the world with a share of nearly 40% and hence the design and development of clean and energy efficient building energy systems is an important step towards a sustainable future. Cooling and air conditioning systems, as an essential component for occupants’ comfort, are among the largest energy end-users in buildings. Additionally, most air conditioning systems rely on using refrigerants that are harmful for the environment with considerable potential for ozone depletion and global warming. Solid-state cooling technologies that do not require refrigerant are therefore of interest to eliminate these environmental concerns. Thermoelectric (TE) modules, as a solid-state cooling technology, when supplied by DC electricity, produce a temperature gradient through the Peltier effect that can be used for cooling purposes. Due to the attractive characteristics that TE technology offers, mainly high controllability, lack of refrigerant and large moving parts, quiet operation, promising efficiency and requiring minimum maintenance required, TE-based systems are becoming an emerging technology for building cooling applications. TE-based cooling technologies have been developed and tested through integrated and non-integrated systems in the building envelope. In the present paper, the design of a TE-based radiant cooling ceiling panel is investigated through numerical modeling and parametric study. The system can be incorporated in the ceiling and will maintain a reduced ceiling temperature to provide cooling through radiation and convection for the occupants. COMSOL Multiphysics is used for modeling and simulation purposes and the performance of the system under various configurations is assessed. The effect of number and placement of TE modules for a given size of ceiling panel are investigated using several simulations in COMSOL to achieve a desired and uniform surface temperature in the minimum amount of time. The impact of incorporating various amounts of phase change material (PCM) in the ceiling panel is also assessed. PCM allows the ceiling panel to maintain the desired temperature for an extended amount of time, but it also increases the time that it takes for the panel to reach the desired temperature. Transient thermal simulations are performed for both start up and shut down scenarios and the amount of time that it takes for the ceiling temperature to cool down to the desired level (on-mode) or heat up (off-mode) to the temperature at which it has to turn back on again are calculated for various system configurations. The results from this study can be used for optimal design of TE-based radiant cooling ceiling panels to achieve high energy efficiency and low operating cost while maintaining occupants’ comfort in the buildings.