An experimental comparison of radiant wall and ceiling cooling system integrated with ground source heat pump and direct expansion fan coil system in a highly glazed office room

Abstract

Hydronic radiant systems, which provide a thermal comfort environment, come to the fore in different building applications due to their energy saving potential and being integrated with renewable energy systems. The aim of this study is to present a full-scale experiment to compare the thermal comfort performances of radiant ceiling, wall and wall + ceiling systems coupled ground source heat pump and direct expansion fan coil system implemented in Yildiz Technical University Science and Technology Application and Research Center, Istanbul, Turkey. Air velocity, horizontal and vertical air temperature differences, mean radiant temperature and humidity values, which are four physical parameters that can affect the thermal satisfaction of office workers for 9 different experimental conditions, are measured for fan coil and all radiant systems. The results indicate that vertical temperature differences between ankle and head level vary from 0.9 °C to 1.4 °C for both fan coil system and all radiant system configurations in different location of the test room. Acceptable overall comfort in indoor environments Class A only showed stable performance with an average of 0.12 PMV and 5.3 % PPD when ceiling + wall radiant panels were actively cooled. The result shows that the difference between room air temperature and room operating temperature varies between 0.45 °C and 0.6 °C when cooling loads are met by radiant systems. This may not make it possible to use indoor air temperature instead of indoor operating temperature in the control of radiant systems. Moreover, the thermal environment of the radiant system are more uniform than fan coil system due to low air temperature stratification, air velocity and small differences between mean radiant temperature and indoor air temperature. © 2022 Elsevier B.V.