Inverse design of indoor radiant terminal using the particle swarm optimization method with topology concept

Abstract

Radiant air conditioning system could create thermal comfortable and energy saving indoor environment. However, previous studies indicated that the design scheme, such as the area, geometry, and installation position, of the radiant terminals have significant effects on indoor thermal environment. That is because the current radiant terminal design method is a trial-and-errors process, and this time-consuming method is very difficult to achieve the optimal design. To fix that problem, this study tried to develop an efficient inverse design method, the particle swarm optimization (PSO) method combined with the topology optimization, which can inversely identify the area, geometry, and installation position of the modularity radiant terminal based on the requirements. This investigation also explored the impact of some key factors on the inverse design results and finally the proposed method was used to design modularity radiant terminals for a multi-occupant's office. The results indicated that the proposed PSO method with the topology optimization could help with the design of high energy-efficiency radiant air conditioning system and the inversely identified modularity radiant terminal could create thermally comfort indoor environment.