Experimental study of the energy and thermal comfort performance of chilled ceiling panels

This article presents the results of a study performed to obtain the main operating characteristics of a chilled heating ceiling system in cooling mode. An experimental analysis of the cooling ceiling system in a climatic chamber is presented in order to evaluate the behavior of its cooling capacity, pressure drop, and thermal comfort. The purpose of the present study is to evaluate the influence of certain factors, such as the ventilation strategy, water mass flow rate, water temperature, and load distribution, on the global behavior and performance of the system. The results show that a high cooling load can be removed, and also a high degree of thermal comfort can be achieved, with this kind of system. However, strong influences of the heat sources distribution and surface temperatures inside the room on its performance are observed, especially for thermal comfort conditions (asymmetric thermal radiation).