Ceiling radiant cooling panel capacity enhanced by mixed convection in mechanically ventilated spaces

The main thrust of this research is to estimate the impact of the mixed convection effect on the cooling capacity of a ceiling radiant panel in mechanically ventilated spaces. To estimate panel cooling capacity enhancement caused by mixed convection, a verified analytical panel model was used. The simplified correlation for mixed convection heat transfer coefficient which can be easily adopted in panel cooling capacity estimation was derived from established mixed convection and natural convection correlations. It was found that the total cooling capacity of radiant panels can be enhanced in mixed convection situations by 5–35% under normal operating panel surface temperatures.