Evaluation of Loss Coefficient For Stand Alone Radiator

Abstract

In the UK, domestic heating contributes to about 40% of annual energy consumption. Effective and efficient heating systems are essential to drive the cost of heating down. Although there are several types of heating systems, radiators are the most popular heat emitters. Heat loss in a radiator depends on various design parameters based on fluid flow path conditions and design of the radiator. The work presented in this paper identifies and compares the loss co-efficient for two most common configurations of radiators used in domestic heating systems. These are Bottom-Bottom Opposite Ends (BBOE) and Bottom-Top Opposite Ends (BTOE) configurations for a standalone system. In a standalone radiator design the loss co-efficient K value varies with the panel configuration and flow path in the BBOE and BTOE layouts. Similar to loss co-efficient in a pipe system the K value in a radiator system is a function of the Reynolds number. It has been found that double and single panel radiators have significantly different behaviour for the two flow layouts with higher K values for the BTOE configuration at lower velocity