Home > Published Issues > 2014 > Vol. 3, No. 3, July 2014 >

A study of radiant cooling for a room with daytime application in tropical climate

Author(s): Satinee Wongkeea, Surapong Chirarattananonb, Pipat Chaiwiwatworakula*
The Joint Graduate School of Energy and Environment King Mongkut’s University of Technology Thonburi, Bangkok 10140, Thailand
International Journal of Smart Grid and Clean Energy, vol. 3, no. 3, July 2014: pp. 347-353
ISSN: 2315-4462 (Print)
ISSN: 2373-3594 (Online)
Digital Object Identifier: 10.12720/sgce.3.3.347-353

Abstract: Radiant cooling is an energy-efficient approach of air-conditioning that is implemented successfully intemperate climate zones. However, in hot and humid climate of the tropics, application of radiant cooling is quite challenge due to (i) its limited cooling capacity by high-moisture ambient air and (ii) the problem of moisture condensation on the cooled radiant panels. This paper reports study results of radiant cooling in a room with daytime application in the tropical climate zone. The study comprises physical experiments of a radiant cooling system that the cool panels were installed in a room of a laboratory building. A fan coil unit was also equipped in the room in order to remove moisture from the room air by ventilation. In the study, TRNSYS simulation software was used to model the systems and to determine the heat extraction rate of the cool panels. Thermal comfort level in the room was evaluated by predicted mean vote (PMV) index. The results show that the radiant cooling is able to be used for air conditioning to achieve human comfort for buildings in tropical zone.
Keywords: Radiant cooling, thermal comfort, predicted mean vote, tropical climate

Full Paper.pdf

PREVIOUS PAPER
Analysis of ‘free energy’ perpetual motion machine system based on permanent magnets
NEXT PAPER
Analysis of countries’ policy change to energy crisis