A novel design for panel radiators

Previous work by the Sheffield group Building Services Eng. Res. Technol., 22 (3) (2001) 185 has shown the importance of radiation heat transfer in the output from the panel radiators used for heating in most buildings. The work described here continues this work by considering the enhancement of the heat transfer from these emitters by the use of either one or two high emissivity sheets placed between the interior surfaces of a double radiator. This is in contrast to conventional radiators which use fins to increase the surface area. These fins add to the expense of fabricating the radiator and are very susceptible to fouling from dust which reduces their heat output considerably.