Thermal, Exergy, and Environmental Performance Analysis of Modified Fin Geometries in Panel Radiators: A CFD-Based Study

This study numerically investigates the thermal, exergy, and environmental performance of a widely used PCCP-type (Type 22) panel radiator equipped with three newly designed fin geometries using ANSYS-based CFD simulations. The proposed configurations were evaluated and compared with a conventional fin design under identical operating conditions to assess their influence on overall heat transfer performance. The results demonstrate that the I-profile fin achieved the highest performance, delivering a thermal efficiency of 61.9%, an exergy efficiency of 15.8%, and approximately a 33% reduction in CO₂ emissions compared to the standard model. While some alternative designs slightly reduced emissions further, they also resulted in notable exergy losses, highlighting a trade-off between energy quality and environmental benefits. These findings indicate that optimized fin geometries can be seamlessly integrated into existing manufacturing processes with minimal modifications, providing a practical and scalable solution for improving energy efficiency and supporting the development of sustainable radiator designs.