Abstract—This study focused on design and investigation of radiant cooling system using cool water supplied from cooling tower with varying water flowrate. The experiment was set up at the low energy house in Prince of Songkla University, Songkhla Province, Thailand. Radiant cooling panels were designed and installed at the wall and the ceiling in the experimental room with the areas of 15.17 m
2 and 16.83 m
2, respectively. The sensitivity analysis for various parameters namely, clothing level, metabolic rate and air velocity were also examined through simulation. Simulation results revealed that all parameters strongly influence to thermal comfort. The predicted mean vote (PMV) values were used for thermal comfort evaluation and results implied that the use of radiant cooling system is appropriate in the night time and early morning (until 10:00). Energy savings can be obtained at 41% by using radiant cooling system instead of the use of air conditioner. This system can be used as the alternative option for human thermal comfort. Three sensation scales are used namely, thermal sensation scale, humid sensation and air movement sensation for comfort assessment. Thermal comfort range can be obtained at the higher temperature in case of increasing air velocity. The humid sensations are mostly voted just right in the ranges of relative humidity 50% to 60% and the humid acceptability for Thai subjects are below 80% for all cases of relative humidity above 70% . The highest acceptability can be obtained at temperature in the ranges of 25°C and 29°C for air velocity 0.2 m/s and in the ranges of 26°C and 30°C for air velocity 0.4 m/s.
Index Terms—Neutral temperature, radiant cooling system, simulation, predicted mean vote, thermal comfort.
The authors are with the Department of Mechanical Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, Prince of Songkla University, Hat Yai, Songkhla, Thailand (e-mail: aruwat@yahoo.com, juntakan@me.psu.ac.th).
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Cite: Ar-U-Wat Tantiwichien and Juntakan Taweekun, "An Experimental and Simulated Study on Thermal Comfort," International Journal of Engineering and Technology vol. 5, no. 2, pp. 177-180, 2013.
