Numerical characterization of heat transfer in a convection-enhanced perforated Tube-Plate radiant heat exchanger

• A novel convective-enhanced radiant orifice panel heat exchanger (CEROP-HX) is proposed. • The proposed CEROP-HX demonstrates excellent heat transfer performance. • Parameter analysis is performed to explore relationships with heat transfer performance. • An empirical model is developed to estimate comprehensive convective heat transfer coefficients . Radiant air conditioning systems offer higher energy efficiency than all-air systems but face challenges due to insufficient cooling capacity per unit area. To address this limitation, enhancing convective heat transfer in the structural design of radiant air conditioning systems is attracting increasing attention from researchers. Previous studies suggest that ceiling-mounted configurations, orifice panel designs, parallel arrangements, and forced convection in plenum zones can optimize convective heat transfer. However, no comprehensive study has investigated the thermal performance and influencing parameters of a system that integrates all these optimization strategies. This study develops a novel convective-enhanced radiant orifice panel heat exchanger (CEROP-HX) and evaluates its thermal performance. A numerical simulation model, validated with experimental data (deviation < 10 %), was used to analyze performance and influencing factors. Results show the CEROP-HX achieves an average total cooling capacity of 127.7 W/m 2 , with convective heat transfer coefficients of 59.4 W/m 2 (upper surface) and 39.3 W/m 2 (lower surface). The design of cooling cavity and orifice plate makes the effect of convective strengthening on the upper surface obvious, and the inlet air temperature drops to 2.1–6.9℃. Air supply velocity, panel emissivity, and supply air temperature positively correlate with performance, while supply water temperature shows a negative correlation. An empirical model with high predictive accuracy was established. This research demonstrates the superior thermal performance of combining forced convection with radiant panels, expanding their application in high cooling load scenarios. The findings provide valuable insights for the design and optimization of hybrid radiant-convective cooling systems.