A Novel Low-Temperature Personalized Radiant Cooler: Thermal Environment and Local Thermal Comfort Evaluation

A new personalized radiant cooler (PRC) is presented in this study, which uses an air-layer integrated radiative cooling unit (AiRCU) to create a microthermal environment for individuals. The AiRCU separates the air-contact surface from the radiant surface, which is able to enhance cooling capacity and reduce condensation risk simultaneously. An interesting issue is if the thermal comfort of the thermal environment built by the PRC should be satisfied. In this study, the PRC was experimentally prepared and a model for the thermal environment was developed using computational fluid dynamic. The cases of the PRC with the supply air temperature of 26.8 °C, 27.1 °C, 27.5 °C and the radiant surface temperature of 15 °C, 10 °C, 5 °C, which achieved the same operative temperature for the workstation, were investigated. The temperature and velocity distributions, and the thermal comfort indices were analyzed. The results indicated that the local thermal comfort of the PRC satisfies the comfort criteria specified in the ASHRAE Standard.