Experimental Observation on Air-Conditioning Using Radiant Chilled Ceiling in Hot Humid Climate

Radiant chilled ceiling (RCC) has been perceived to save more energy and provide better thermal comfort than the traditional air conditioning system. However, its application has been rather limited by some reasons e.g., the scarce information about the thermal characteristic in the radiant room and the local climate influence on the system performance, etc. To bridge such gap, an office-like experiment room with a RCC was constructed in the hot and humid climate of Thailand. This paper presents exemplarily results from the RCC experiments to give an insight into the thermal environment in a radiant room and the cooling load associated to maintain the room's comfort condition. It gave a demonstration of the RCC system operation for its application to achieve thermal comfort in offices in a hot humid climate, as well.





References:
[1] S. Chiraratananon and V. D. Hien, “Thermal performance and cost effectiveness of massive walls under thai climate,” Energy Build., vol. 43, no. 7, pp. 1655–1662, 2011.
[2] Surapong, Chirarattananon, “Building for Energy Efficiency.” (Energy Field of Study, School of Environment Resources and Development) 2005, pp. 616.
[3] A. Aryal, P. Chaiwiwatworakul, and S. Chirarattananon, “A simulation study of radiant chilled ceiling with dedicated outdoor air system for office buildings in Thailand,” IOP Conf. Ser. Mater. Sci. Eng., vol. 965, p. 012004, 2020.
[4] K. N. Rhee, B. W. Olesen, and K. W. Kim, “Ten questions about radiant heating and cooling systems,” Build. Environ., vol. 112, pp. 367–381, 2017.
[5] P. Vangtook and S. Chirarattananon, “An experimental investigation of application of radiant cooling in hot humid climate,” Energy Build., vol. 38, no. 4, pp. 273–285, 2006.
[6] Y. Khan, V. R. Khare, J. Mathur, and M. Bhandari, “Performance evaluation of radiant cooling system integrated with air system under different operational strategies,” Energy Build., vol. 97, pp. 118–128, 2015.
[7] Y. Khan, M. Bhandari, and J. Mathur, “Energy-saving potential of a radiant cooling system in different climate zones of India,” Sci. Technol. Built Environ., vol. 24, no. 4, pp. 356–370, 2018.
[8] M. M. Ardehali, N. G. Panah, and T. F. Smith, “Proof of concept modeling of energy transfer mechanisms for radiant conditioning panels,” Energy Convers. Manag., vol. 45, no. 13–14, pp. 2005–2017, 2004.
[9] P.O. Fanger, “Assessment of Thermal Comfort,” Br. J. Ind. Med., vol. 30, pp. 313–324, 1978.
[10] ANSI/ASHRAE, “Thermal Environmental Conditions for Human Occupancy,” vol. 2017, 2017.
[11] N. Nutprasert and P. Chaiwiwatworakul, “Radiant cooling with dehumidified air ventilation for thermal comfort in buildings in tropical climate,” Energy Procedia, vol. 52, pp. 250–259, 2014.
[12] J. Miriel, L. Serres, and A. Trombe, “Radiant ceiling panel heating-cooling systems: Experimental and simulated study of the performances, thermal comfort and energy consumptions,” Appl. Therm. Eng., vol. 22, no. 16, pp. 1861–1873, 2002.
[13] S. Okamoto, H. Kitora, H. Yamaguchi, and T. Oka, “A simplified calculation method for estimating heat flux from ceiling radiant panels,” Energy Build., vol. 42, no. 1, pp. 29–33, 2010.