Empirical component model to predict the overall performance of heating coils: Calibrations and tests based on manufacturer catalogue data

Abstract A simplified methodology for predicting the overall behaviour of heating coils is presented in this paper. The coil performance is predicted by the e-NTU method. Usually manufacturers do not provide information about the overall thermal resistance or the geometric details that are required either for the device selection or to apply known empirical correlations for the estimation of the involved thermal resistances. In the present work, heating capacity tables from the manufacturer catalogue are used to calibrate simplified approaches based on the classical theory of heat exchangers, namely the effectiveness method. Only two reference operating cases are required to calibrate each approach. The validity of the simplified approaches is investigated for a relatively high number of operating cases, listed in the technical catalogue of a manufacturer. Four types of coils of three sizes of air handling units are considered. A comparison is conducted between the heating coil capacities provided by the methodology and the values given by the manufacturer catalogue. The results show that several of the proposed approaches are suitable component models to be integrated in dynamic simulation tools of air conditioning systems such as TRNSYS or EnergyPlus.

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