In order to minimize the large fan power demand from low temperature lift heat pump systems, a radiative heat exchanger is proposed as an indoor heat exchanger design in such systems. The radiative heat exchanger utilizes both natural convection and radiation so that it is capable of reducing fan power consumption while simultaneously providing an improved thermal comfort. A software tool has been developed to simulate the operative temperature field created by a radiative heat exchanger installed in a typical office setting (3m by 3m by 3m dimension). The tool includes the modeling of mean radiant temperature using an eight-surface (six walls, a window and a sunlit area on the floor) assumption, as well as the modeling of air temperature using proper orthogonal decomposition method. The proper orthogonal decomposition method was shown to be more computationally cost-effective than the conventional CFD simulation. Finally, the operative temperature simulation results were validated with the experimental data, showing the average discrepancy of 0.4 K in four measurement locations.
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