The Effect of Cooling Capacity in Ceiling Radiant Cooling Panel by Using Different Pipe Design

Abstract

A computational fluid dynamics (CFD) simulation study on heat transfer of cold water flow in the ceiling radiant cooling panel was performed. This simulation aimed to attain the desired surface temperature distributions and also for increasing the cooling capacities. A few influencing factors included cold water inlet parameters, conditions of gypsum plaster, and capillary mat structural parameters. These parameters were brought into consideration to obtain the complicated relationships between radiant panel conditions and the heat transfer performance of the pipe. The new shape for pipes was proposed for performing a uniform temperature distribution in the ceiling. The results of the simulation were compared with temperature variation and hydraulic power is calculated in terms of pressure. CFD simulation is analyzed by having pipes as linear, u-type, U tube with 40 mm spacing, and U tube with 20 mm spacing. Spacing between pipes provides a U-tube role in covering the cooling area of the surface. Pipe having a U-tube shape with 20 mm spacing between each U tube has the best heat absorptions rate and this design obtained the lowest temperature in the ceiling which is 17.593ºC.