Passive solar radiant system,SIRASOL. Physical–mathematical modeling and sensitivity analysis

When using passive solar heating systems, it is necessary to have available an Equator-facing facade on which to install them. Rooms without such a facade are not the best option for conventional passive solar heating systems. SIRASOL is a passive solar radiant system that captures solar energy and is to be installed in the ceiling of the room. This room must not necessarily have an Equator-facing facade. Solar energy heats up a metal sheet, which is the radiant panel, which transfers heat by long-wave radiation to the room below it. This paper presents a mathematical model and a sensitivity analysis. The mathematical model was used to analyze radiant panel temperature, radiant mean temperature, operative temperature and panel surface area. Results of the sensitivity study showed that when solar radiation rises (from 200 to 800 W) panel temperature increases from 36 °C to 92 °C, whereas variations in outside and inside air temperature have a negligible impact on the panel temperature. Thus, the use of SIRASOL is possible in locations with clear skies. Moreover, from panel temperature values we calculated mean radiant temperature and thereby the room’s operative temperature, which is proportional to the radiant panel area. When this area is 50% of the room’s floor area, operative temperature grows 3.1 °C higher than inside air temperature when solar radiation is 500 W/m². The analysis shows that a thermal asymmetry appears only when SIRASOL’s surface area to floor area ratio is higher than 32%.     

Energy and monetary benefits of portable heaters

A methodology is outlined that has been used to study the sensitivity of the performance of portable electric and kerosene space heaters to several parameters, including: the price of fuel for the conventional central heating system, the price of portable heater fuel, the thermal integrity of the structure, the size of the room that the portable heater is used to heat, the setback temperature for the central heating system, the duration of use, rates of air exchange with other spaces, and geographic location. Results are used to identify the conditions for which portable heaters are most beneficial and to which parameters the savings are most sensitive. The results show that savings are most sensitive to the thermal integrity of the structure, the price of fuel for the conventional heater, the thermostat setting during setback, and the duration of use of the portable heater. Payback periods for portable heaters are found to range from several months to more than six years.     

Performance evaluation of radiant baseboards (skirtings) for room heating – An analytical and experimental approach

The aim of this study was to investigate the thermal performance of the hydronic radiant baseboards currently used for space heating in built environments. The presently available equations for determination of heat outputs from these room heaters are valid for a certain height at a specific temperature range. This limitation needed to be addressed as radiant baseboards may be both energy and cost efficient option for space heating in the future. The main goal of this study was therefore to design an equation valid for all baseboard heights (100–200 mm) and excess temperatures (9–60 °C) usually used in built environments.The proposed equation was created by curve fitting using the standard method of least squares together with data from previous laboratory measurements. It was shown that the predictions by the proposed equation were in close agreement with reported experimental data. Besides, it was also revealed that the mean heat transfer coefficient of the investigated radiant baseboards was about 50% higher than the mean heat transfer coefficient of five conventional panel radiators of different types.The proposed equation can easily be used or programed in energy simulation codes. Hopefully this will help engineers to quantify more accurately the energy consumption for space heating in buildings served by radiant baseboards.     

热系统内表面温度对空间有效温度场的影响

通过将平均辐射温度引入到建筑热舒适性传热计算中的方法简化建筑热舒适性和能耗的相互关系及其计算公式 ,进行平均辐射温度和房间的有效温度分布情况对热舒适性的影响分析。用这种方法来比较在不同热辐射换热和对流换热工况下变墙面温度时建筑内的热舒适性。理论分析和辐射、对流换热及其结合工况的热舒适性测试数据结果分析表明 ,热舒适性可以用平均辐射温度和有效温度来表征。用平均辐射温度和有效温度分析计算热建筑舒适性的方法 ,在优化建筑热系统的设计时 ,也有非常重要的参考价值。     

Performance of a coupled cooling system with earth-to-air heat exchanger and solar chimney

Buildings represent nearly 40 percent of total energy use in the U.S. and about 50 percent of this energy is used for heating, ventilating, and cooling the space. Conventional heating and cooling systems are having a great impact on security of energy supply and greenhouse gas emissions. Unlike conventional approach, this paper investigates an innovative passive air conditioning system coupling earth-to-air heat exchangers (EAHEs) with solar collector enhanced solar chimneys. By simultaneously utilizing geothermal and solar energy, the system can achieve great energy savings within the building sector and reduce the peak electrical demand in the summer. Experiments were conducted in a test facility in summer to evaluate the performance of such a system. During the test period, the solar chimney drove up to 0.28 m³/s (1000 m³/h) outdoor air into the space. The EAHE provided a maximum 3308 W total cooling capacity during the day time. As a 100 percent outdoor air system, the coupled system maximum cooling capacity was 2582 W that almost covered the building design cooling load. The cooling capacities reached their peak during the day time when the solar radiation intensity was strong. The results show that the coupled system can maintain the indoor thermal environmental comfort conditions at a favorable range that complies with ASHRAE standard for thermal comfort. The findings in this research provide the foundation for design and application of the coupled system.     

A study on the performance enhancement of heat pump using electric heater under the frosting condition: Heat pump under frosting condition

The purpose of the present study is to enhance the heating capacity and increase COP under the frosting condition during heating operation of small capacity air-to-air heat pump. We applied an electric heater in front of outdoor unit of heat pump instead of indoor unit as usual. When the outdoor temperature is 2 °C/1 °C (DB/WB), the present heat pump turns on the electric heater in outdoor unit. The heating capacity increases 38.0% and COP increases 57.0% in comparison with those of conventional heat pump. When the outdoor temperature is 4 °C/2 °C (DB/WB), the electric heater is in ON/OFF mode according to the temperature of the evaporator. The heating capacity increases 9.1% and COP increases 71.1% in comparison with those of conventional heat pump.     

Effect of neutral temperature on energy saving of centralized air-conditioning systems in subtropical Hong Kong

Higher room temperature can still let the occupants have a neutral thermal sensation if higher air speed is provided. With a suitable scheme of neutral temperature and comfort air speed, reduction of energy consumption of the central chiller plant may surpass the additional energy requirement of the air side equipment, then both energy saving and thermal comfort can be achieved for the entire air-conditioning system. To evaluate this, the energy consumptions of a centralized air-conditioning system using the common air side alternatives were studied for the subtropical Hong Kong. The alternatives are variable air volume (VAV) system, constant air volume (CAV) system and fan coil (FC) system. Each of them was associated to a central chiller plant to serve a high-rise office building. The studying range of the room air temperature was from 23 °C to 30 °C. It is found that the VAV and FC systems can provide both thermal comfort and energy saving for higher room temperature, but CAV system is not feasible when the room air temperature is above 27 °C. If the indoor air speed threshold is considered, the neutral temperature can be brought up to 26.5 °C, and the energy saving potentials of VAV and FC systems would be 12.9% and 9.3% respectively.     

Novel predictive tools for design of radiant and convective sections of direct fired heaters

Direct fired heaters are used considerably in the energy related industries and petroleum industries for heating crude oil in the petroleum refining and petrochemical sectors. The aim of the current study is to formulate simple-to-use correlations to design the radiant and convective sections of direct fired heaters. The developed tools are easier than currently available models and involves a fewer number of parameters, requiring less complicated and shorter computations. Firstly, a simple correlation is developed to provide an accurate and rapid prediction of the absorbed heat in the radiant section of a fired heater, expressed as a fraction of the total net heat liberation, in terms of the average heat flux to the tubes, the arrangement of the tubes (circumferential), and the air to fuel mass ratio. Secondly, another simple correlation is developed to approximate external heat transfer coefficients for 75, 100, and 150 mm nominal pipe size (NPS) steel pipes arranged in staggered rows and surrounded by combustion gases. Finally, a simple correlation is presented to predict the gross thermal efficiency as a function of percent excess air and stack gas temperature. This study shows that the proposed method has a good agreement with the available reliable data in the literature. The average absolute deviations between reported data and the proposed correlations are found to be around 1.5% demonstrating the excellent performance of proposed predictive tool. The proposed simple-to-use method can be of significant practical value for the engineers and scientists to have a quick check on the design of radiant and convective sections of direct fired heater. In particular, mechanical and process engineers would find the proposed approach to be user-friendly involving no complex expressions with transparent and easy to understand calculations.     

Numerical analysis of temperature non-uniformity and cooling capacity for capillary ceiling radiant cooling panel

Capillary ceiling radiant cooling panel is a high temperature cooling system, which could pose low energy consumption to meet thermal comfort requirements. A computational fluid dynamics (CFD) simulation study on heat transfer of chilled water flow in the capillary of ceiling radiant cooling panel was performed to attain surface temperature distributions and cooling capacities. Six influencing factors included chilled water inlet parameters, conditions of gypsum plaster and capillary mats structural parameters were considered to obtain the complicated relationships between capillary radiant panel conditions and heat transfer performance. The index of temperature non-uniformity coefficient was proposed to evaluate temperature profiles of ceiling panel surface. The results of the simulation were compared with the values depicted in ASHRAE Handbook and good agreement had been achieved. The average difference between simulation results and the values reported by ASHRAE handbook was within the region of 15%. The research results showed that temperature non-uniformity coefficient was negatively correlated with temperature of chilled inlet water (linear correlation), water velocity (correlation coefficient R = −0.85), and pipe diameter (correlation coefficient R = −0.93), but positively and linearly correlated with tube spacing. Cooling capacity was found to have negative linear correlation with temperature of chilled inlet water, covering thickness and tube spacing.     

Experimental and CFD investigation of an ICSSWH at various inclinations

The integrated collector storage (ICS) is the type of solar water heater that has retained its existance for well over a century. The flat absorber plate ICS collector type is a relatively recent addition. Being effective, low cost and simple to manufacture, their importance has been further enhanced by the recent upsurge in efforts to effectively tap renewable energy resources. Having different inclinations based on latitude, the design of flat plate heaters can benefit from extensive amount of research on the topic of natural convection in inclined cavities. More than half-century of exploration on inclined cavities has witnessed added activity particularly in the last three decades. Despite this consistent research, efforts to apply the outcomes to the flat plate collectors have been few and collectors reported in the literature appear to be deficient in embedding the knowledge into the design parameters. For an ICS type heater, natural convection studies gain even more weight as the apparatus is functionally an assembly of two natural convection cavities: an air cavity (space between the absorber and cover plates) and a water cavity (water storage tank). An extensive review of previous studies on inclined cavities relevant to flat plate collectors has been complied and discussed. Experimental tests of the ICS heater have been conducted for controlled heat flux up to 400 W. The thermal performance of the heater is recorded experimentally at angles 0–60° from horizontal, in 15° intervals. CFD analysis is also carried out for the same and is found to be in good agreement with previous studies. It was found that for any given constant value of heat flux, the performance of the heater is a strong function of the angle of inclination. The optimum configuration of the heater for Edinburgh conditions (latitude 55°55′N) is also evaluated. The present study also covers the convective behavior inside the water tank, which has been neglected in the past. A step-by-step build-up approach is adopted to resolve water tank behavior as its treatment as a simple natural convention cavity is invalid. This article would serve as a design guide for developing heaters tailored for a specific geographical location.     

地板辐射与下送风复合式供冷系统运行特性实验研究

测量地板辐射与下送风复合式供冷系统运行过程中的室内空气温湿度、围护结构表面温度等室内环境参数,分析室内温湿度、热舒适性、系统换热量的变化规律,并对室内空气环境进行影响因素分析。实验结果表明:室内空气绝对湿度较室内空气温度达到稳定需要的时间更短;MRT(mean radian temperature)、OT(operation temperature)和PMV-PPD值在系统开启后第1.0 h减小速率最大,1.5 h后逐渐趋于稳定,此时,PMV约为0.49,PPD约为10%,在热舒适范围内;地板净辐射换热量、对流换热量和总换热量在系统开启后的1.5 h内递增,然后趋于稳定,此时,地板辐射换热量约为37 W/m~2,占总换热量的47%;室内空气温度和作用温度均随室外综合温度、室内发热量、供回水平均温度和送风温度的增加而增加,当室外综合温度较低或较高,或室内发热量较低,或供回水平均温度较低时,室内空气温度和作用温度变化梯度较小,室内空气温度和作用温度随送风温度增加而增加的速率近似呈线性。     

Thermal performance and energy saving investigation in a modified baseboard radiator and compare it with conventional heating systems—Experimental and CFD approach

In the present work, thermal performance of a new modified baseboard radiator is investigated experimentally based on the European Standard EN-442. Temperature distribution and thermal comfort conditions of the floor heating system and panel radiator is compared with the present system numerically. To validation of the simulation results, a comparison has been made between the simulation and the experimental obtained results. Comparison shows that there is a good agreement between them. The heat output rate of the new system increased about 46.06% compared with conventional baseboard radiant model and also the baseboard heating system is capable of providing better thermal comfort conditions than two other systems. Energy consumption in three systems is investigated experimentally by smart temperature control mechanism. Results show that energy consumption in the baseboard radiant is 83.03% and 55.96% lower than floor heating system and panel radiator, respectively.     

Investigation of thermal performance of a passive solar building with floor radiant heating

This paper presents a theoretical study of an integrated radiant floor heating–direct gain passive solar system. Thermal mass is utilized both for storage of auxiliary heating energy and direct solar gains incident on the floor. An explicit finite difference model is developed to accurately model nonlinear effects and auxiliary heating control. The numerical simulation model is employed to study the performance of a passive solar outdoor test-room with different amounts of thermal mass under various control strategies with constant and sinusoidal room thermostat setpoints. A satisfactory thermal mass is determined based on energy savings, reduction of room temperature swings, and prevention of floor surface overheating. Control of auxiliary heating based on a room effective (operative) temperature is shown to result in improved thermal comfort and higher utilization of passive solar gains as compared to room air temperature control.     

Experimental performance of a thermoelectric ceiling cooling panel

An experiment has been performed to investigate the cooling performance of a thermoelectric ceiling cooling panel (TE‐CCP). The TE‐CCP was composed of 36 TE modules. The cold side of the TE modules was fixed to an aluminum ceiling panel to cool a test chamber of 4.5 m³ volume, while a copper heat exchanger with circulating cooling water at the hot side of the TE modules was used for heat release. Tests were conducted using various system parameters. It was found that the cooling performance of the system depended on the electrical supply, cooling water temperature and flow rate through the heat exchanger. A suitable condition occurred at 1.5 A of current flow with a corresponding cooling capacity of 289.4 W which gives the coefficient of performance (COP) of 0.75 with an average indoor temperature of 27°C. Using thermal comfort test data in literature for small air movements under radiant cooling ceilings, results from the experiments show that thermal comfort could be obtained with the TE‐CCP system. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Effect of radiation and convection heat transfer on cooling performance of radiative panel

The radiative panel is an equipment combining the solar heating and nocturnal radiant cooling technology. This study conducted the thermal performance of radiative panels for both radiation and convection cooling. Using the cover test by the mirror polished aluminum plate, the net cooling capacity of radiative panel was tested. The net cooling capacity of the radiative panel and contribution degree of the radiation heat transfer and convection heat transfer to the net cooling capacity was computed using the simulation model, and the influences of the cloud, ambient temperature and inclination angle on the radiation cooling were discussed. From the experimental results, the net cooling capacity was 45–70 W/m² when the radiative panel wasn’t covered, and the net cooling capacity was 10–30 W/m² when the mirror polished aluminum plate existed on a clear night in February in Tianjin. From the simulation results, the net cooling capacity of the radiative panel was about 50–70 W/m², and the radiation cooling was about 45 W/m², being responsible for 64%–90% of the net cooling capacity. The temperature differences between radiative panel and environment were the main influencing factors for the radiation cooling capacity. With an increase of the temperature difference, the radiation cooling capacity increased, and when the variation 5 °C of the temperature difference, the radiation cooling capacity will increase about 10–20 W/m². When it was partly cloudy, the radiation cooling capacity was about 50 W/m² and the fall rate of the radiation cooling capacity was less than 24%. With an increase of the cloud, the radiation cooling will decrease significantly. When it was overcast, the radiative panel even absorbed heat around 45 W/m² from the environment. When the tilt angle of radiative panel was less than 30°, the fall rate of the radiation cooling capacity was less than 11.3%. When the tilt angle was greater than 30°, the radiation cooling decreased significantly. In the case of being placed vertically, the radiation cooling capacity reduced by 84.8%.     

Estimation of power of heaters in a radiant furnace for uniform thermal conditions on 3-D irregular shaped objects

For uniform thermal conditions on 3-D irregular shaped design objects, this paper reports estimation of optimal power of the panel heaters placed along the walls of a 3-D radiant furnace. Hemispherical, cylindrical, conical, and a combination of cylindrical and conical, and finally a case study of a car body model are considered as the design objects (DOs). The entire surface areas of the furnace walls and that of the DO are divided into surface elements. The surface elements of the furnace walls are made of the panel heaters. In this boundary design problem, the objective function is developed as an error function of estimated and the desired heat fluxes on the surfaces of DO. The radiative exchange among the surface elements is computed using the radiation element method by ray emission model (REM²), and the objective function is minimized using the micro-genetic algorithm (MGA). Power of the panel heaters are estimated for different sizes of the DOs. Although the panel heaters have been placed along the furnace walls, for uniform thermal conditions, for a given DO, not all are required. Having known that not all are required, to ease the control, estimations have also been shown by grouping the heaters along the furnace walls. This study provides a guideline for a priori knowing the heater setting and their corresponding power requirement in heating of 3-D irregular shaped objects.     

Thermal behavior of a porous electric heater

The performance of a proposed porous electric heater is investigated. The porous heater exchanges heat with the working fluid through its large volumetric surface area. As a result, it produces lower surface temperature as compared with the conventional heater for the same imposed heating power. Two mathematical models are presented to describe the thermal behavior of both heaters. Axial diffusion is included in the governing equation of the solid conventional heater. The predictions of both models are compared at different operating conditions where it is found that porous heaters have much better thermal performance than the conventional heaters.     

The passive solar heated school in Wallasey. VI. Thermal sensation and comfort in the classroom: A year-long study of the subjective and adaptive responses of children

In order to examine relationships between thermal parameters and subjective response, a class of 33 13-year-old children was studied over a period of 63 weeks. Children completed 7 point rating scales of thermal sensation, air movement and dryness and 5 point scales of perceived comfort and wakefulness. Information was collected about clothes worn, windows open and lights in use, as well as data on concurrent thermal variables. In general the classroom was perceived as warm, dry and airless. Children were found to maintain thermal neutrality down to globe temperatures of 17°C by adjusting clothing, windows and lighting. The adaptive responses served to moderate the effect of physical fluctuations on thermal sensation but appeared to be ineffective at globe temperatures over 24°C. A theoretical model of adaptive control of the environment would suggest low correlations between thermal sensation and variables which the children could adjust (clothing, ventilation, heating), and high correlations between these moderator variables and objective room temperatures. The observed set of correlations supports this model. Children seem to be sensitive to differences between mean surface and air temperatures but not to ceiling-floor temperature differences within the ranges studied. There are low correlations between thermal sensation and ‘comfort’. This has implications for energy conservation.     

Experimental investigation of three different solar air heaters: Energy and exergy analyses

The present study aims to compare three different types of designed flat-plate solar air heaters, two having fins (Type II and Type III) and the other without fins (Type I), one of the heater with a fin had single glass cover (Type III) and the others had double glass covers (Type I and Type II). The energy and exergy output rates of the solar air heaters were evaluated for various air flow rates (25, 50 and 100 m³/m² h), tilt angle (0°, 15° and 30°) and temperature conditions versus time. Based on the energy and exergy output rates, heater with double glass covers and fins (Type II) is more effective and the difference between the input and output air temperature is higher than of the others. Besides, it is found that the circulation time of air inside the heater played a role more important than of the number of transparent sheet. Lower air flow rates should be preferred in the applications of which temperature differences is more important.     

热泵热水器技术及应用

热泵热水器借助外部能量能把不能直接利用的低位热源转换为可以利用的高位热能,从而达到节约部分高位能的目的。阐述了热泵热水器的发展历史与应用现状,分析了空气源热泵的工作原理和节能原理,并将空气源热泵热水机组与电热水器、燃油热水锅炉、燃气热水锅炉等热水供应系统的性能进行了比较。在此基础上,结合企业工程应用实例,指出了推广热泵技术对于节能减排的意义。