A kW-scale, 24-hour continuously operational, radiative sky cooling system: Experimental demonstration and predictive modeling

Aili, Ablimit; Zhao, Dongliang; Lu, Jiatao; Zhai, Yao; Yin, Xiaobo; Tan, Gang; Yang, Ronggui

doi:10.1016/j.enconman.2019.03.006

A kW-scale, 24-hour continuously operational, radiative sky cooling system: Experimental demonstration and predictive modeling

Journal Article · Thu Mar 14 00:00:00 EDT 2019 · Energy Conversion and Management

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1016/j.enconman.2019.03.006· OSTI ID:1613652

Aili, Ablimit ^[1]; Zhao, Dongliang ^[2]; Lu, Jiatao ^[2]; ^[2]; Yin, Xiaobo ^[2]; ^[3]; Yang, Ronggui ^[2]

Univ. of Colorado, Boulder, CO (United States); DOE/OSTI
Univ. of Colorado, Boulder, CO (United States)
Univ. of Wyoming, Laramie, WY (United States)

With the advancement in sub-ambient cooling of water during daytime under the sun with scalable-manufactured radiative cooling metamaterials, the challenge for applications lies in design and building of large-scale radiative cooling systems. Here, we present a kW-scale, 24-hour continuously operational, radiative sky cooling system, with both experimental study and detailed modeling. We first quantitatively show how water flow rate directly affects the system cooling power and inversely affects the water temperature drop. A day-and-night stagnant (flow rate = 0 L/(min·m²)) water cooling test of the system shows a consistent sub-ambient water temperature drop of 5–7 °C. A daytime cooling test of the system at a low flow rate of 0.227 L/(min·m²) yields a maximum sub-ambient temperature drop of 4.0 °C with an average net cooling power of around 80 W/m². Further modelling for a typical metrological year (in Phoenix, Arizona) shows that the system could generate as much as 350 kWh cold (or 26 kWh/m²) with a sub-ambient temperature drop of 4–5 °C at a low flow rate of 0.1 L/(min·m²) during a typical summer month. The cold generated could be used to assist AC systems in regions or seasons with high ambient temperatures.

View Accepted Manuscript (DOE)

Research Organization:: University of Colorado, Boulder, CO (United States)

Sponsoring Organization:: USDOE Advanced Research Projects Agency - Energy (ARPA-E)

Grant/Contract Number:: AR0000580

OSTI ID:: 1613652

Journal Information:: Energy Conversion and Management, Journal Name: Energy Conversion and Management Vol. 186; ISSN 0196-8904

Publisher:: ElsevierCopyright Statement

Country of Publication:: United States

Language:: English

References (37)

A Metamaterial Emitter for Highly Efficient Radiative Cooling Hossain, Md Muntasir; Jia, Baohua; Gu, Min Advanced Optical Materials, Vol. 3, Issue 8 https://doi.org/10.1002/adom.201500119	journal	April 2015
A Subambient Open Roof Surface under the Mid-Summer Sun Gentle, Angus R.; Smith, Geoff B. Advanced Science, Vol. 2, Issue 9 https://doi.org/10.1002/advs.201500119	journal	May 2015
Radiative Cooling: Principles, Progress, and Potentials Hossain, Md. Muntasir; Gu, Min Advanced Science, Vol. 3, Issue 7 https://doi.org/10.1002/advs.201500360	journal	February 2016
The effective sky temperature: an enigmatic concept Gliah, Omemah; Kruczek, Boguslaw; Etemad, Seyed Gh. Heat and Mass Transfer, Vol. 47, Issue 9 https://doi.org/10.1007/s00231-011-0780-1	journal	March 2011
The radiative cooling of selective surfaces Catalanotti, S.; Cuomo, V.; Piro, G. Solar Energy, Vol. 17, Issue 2, p. 83-89 https://doi.org/10.1016/0038-092X(75)90062-6	journal	May 1975
Thermal performance of radiative cooling panels Berdahl, P.; Martin, M.; Sakkal, F. International Journal of Heat and Mass Transfer, Vol. 26, Issue 6, p. 871-880 https://doi.org/10.1016/S0017-9310(83)80111-2	journal	June 1983
Full-scale measurements of wind-induced convective heat transfer from a roof-mounted flat plate solar collector Sharples, S.; Charlesworth, P. S. Solar Energy, Vol. 62, Issue 2 https://doi.org/10.1016/S0038-092X(97)00119-9	journal	February 1998
Radiative cooling of buildings with flat-plate solar collectors Erell, Evyatar; Etzion, Yair Building and Environment, Vol. 35, Issue 4 https://doi.org/10.1016/S0360-1323(99)00019-0	journal	May 2000
Night sky cooling for concentrating solar power plants Dyreson, Ana; Miller, Franklin Applied Energy, Vol. 180 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.apenergy.2016.07.118	journal	October 2016
Development of a single-phase thermosiphon for cold collection and storage of radiative cooling Zhao, Dongliang; Martini, Christine Elizabeth; Jiang, Siyu Applied Energy, Vol. 205 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.apenergy.2017.08.057	journal	November 2017
Energy saving and economic analysis of a new hybrid radiative cooling system for single-family houses in the USA Zhang, Kai; Zhao, Dongliang; Yin, Xiaobo Applied Energy, Vol. 224 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.apenergy.2018.04.115	journal	August 2018
Radiative cooling: A review of fundamentals, materials, applications, and prospects Zhao, Bin; Hu, Mingke; Ao, Xianze Applied Energy, Vol. 236 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.apenergy.2018.12.018	journal	February 2019
Review of external convective heat transfer coefficient models in building energy simulation programs: Implementation and uncertainty Mirsadeghi, M.; Cóstola, D.; Blocken, B. Applied Thermal Engineering, Vol. 56, Issue 1-2 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.applthermaleng.2013.03.003	journal	July 2013
Thermal comfort in buildings using radiant vs. all-air systems: A critical literature review Karmann, Caroline; Schiavon, Stefano; Bauman, Fred Building and Environment, Vol. 111 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.buildenv.2016.10.020	journal	January 2017
Subambient Cooling of Water: Toward Real-World Applications of Daytime Radiative Cooling Zhao, Dongliang; Aili, Ablimit; Zhai, Yao Joule, Vol. 3, Issue 1 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.joule.2018.10.006	journal	January 2019
Detection of cloud cover using dynamic thresholds and radiative transfer models from the polarization satellite image Li, Chao; Ma, Jinji; Yang, Peng Journal of Quantitative Spectroscopy and Radiative Transfer, Vol. 222-223 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jqsrt.2018.10.026	journal	January 2019
Performance assessment of a photonic radiative cooling system for office buildings Wang, Weimin; Fernandez, Nick; Katipamula, Srinivas Renewable Energy, Vol. 118 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.renene.2017.10.062	journal	April 2018
Heating and cooling energy trends and drivers in buildings Ürge-Vorsatz, Diana; Cabeza, Luisa F.; Serrano, Susana Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Vol. 41 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.rser.2014.08.039	journal	January 2015
Radiative cooling as low-grade energy source: A literature review Vall, Sergi; Castell, Albert Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Vol. 77 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.rser.2017.04.010	journal	September 2017
Performance analysis of passive cooling for photovoltaic modules and estimation of energy-saving potential Li, Hao; Zhao, Jun; Li, Minxia Solar Energy, Vol. 181 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.solener.2019.01.014	journal	March 2019
A review of clear sky radiative cooling developments and applications in renewable power systems and passive building cooling Zeyghami, Mehdi; Goswami, D. Yogi; Stefanakos, Elias Solar Energy Materials and Solar Cells, Vol. 178 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.solmat.2018.01.015	journal	May 2018
A Comprehensive Photonic Approach for Solar Cell Cooling Li, Wei; Shi, Yu; Chen, Kaifeng ACS Photonics, Vol. 4, Issue 4 https://doi.org/10.1021/acsphotonics.7b00089	journal	March 2017
The Beer-Lambert Law Swinehart, D. F. Journal of Chemical Education, Vol. 39, Issue 7 https://doi.org/10.1021/ed039p333	journal	July 1962
Ultrabroadband Photonic Structures To Achieve High-Performance Daytime Radiative Cooling Rephaeli, Eden; Raman, Aaswath; Fan, Shanhui Nano Letters, Vol. 13, Issue 4, p. 1457-1461 https://doi.org/10.1021/nl4004283	journal	March 2013
Observed relationship between surface specific humidity, integrated water vapor, and longwave downward radiation at different altitudes Ruckstuhl, Christian; Philipona, Rolf; Morland, June Journal of Geophysical Research, Vol. 112, Issue D3 https://doi.org/10.1029/2006JD007850	journal	January 2007
Passive radiative cooling below ambient air temperature under direct sunlight Raman, Aaswath P.; Anoma, Marc Abou; Zhu, Linxiao Nature, Vol. 515, Issue 7528, p. 540-544 https://doi.org/10.1038/nature13883	journal	November 2014
Sub-ambient non-evaporative fluid cooling with the sky Goldstein, Eli A.; Raman, Aaswath P.; Fan, Shanhui Nature Energy, Vol. 2, Issue 9 https://doi.org/10.1038/nenergy.2017.143	journal	September 2017
Nanoporous polyethylene microfibres for large-scale radiative cooling fabric Peng, Yucan; Chen, Jun; Song, Alex Y. Nature Sustainability, Vol. 1, Issue 2 https://doi.org/10.1038/s41893-018-0023-2	journal	February 2018
Quantifying the economic impact of changes in energy demand for space heating and cooling systems under varying climatic scenarios Hasegawa, Tomoko; Park, Chan; Fujimori, Shinichiro Palgrave Communications, Vol. 2, Issue 1 https://doi.org/10.1057/palcomms.2016.13	journal	May 2016
Radiative cooling to low temperatures: General considerations and application to selectively emitting SiO films Granqvist, C. G.; Hjortsberg, A. Journal of Applied Physics, Vol. 52, Issue 6, p. 4205-4220 https://doi.org/10.1063/1.329270	journal	June 1981
Radiative cooling of solar absorbers using a visibly transparent photonic crystal thermal blackbody Zhu, Linxiao; Raman, Aaswath P.; Fan, Shanhui Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, Vol. 112, Issue 40 https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1509453112	journal	September 2015
Heat Transfer During Wind Flow over Rectangular Bodies in the Natural Environment Test, F. L.; Lessmann, R. C.; Johary, A. Journal of Heat Transfer, Vol. 103, Issue 2 https://doi.org/10.1115/1.3244451	journal	May 1981
Radiative human body cooling by nanoporous polyethylene textile Hsu, Po-Chun; Song, Alex Y.; Catrysse, Peter B. Science, Vol. 353, Issue 6303 https://doi.org/10.1126/science.aaf5471	journal	September 2016
Scalable-manufactured randomized glass-polymer hybrid metamaterial for daytime radiative cooling Zhai, Yao; Ma, Yaoguang; David, Sabrina N. Science, Vol. 355, Issue 6329 https://doi.org/10.1126/science.aai7899	journal	February 2017
Hierarchically porous polymer coatings for highly efficient passive daytime radiative cooling Mandal, Jyotirmoy; Fu, Yanke; Overvig, Adam C. Science, Vol. 362, Issue 6412 https://doi.org/10.1126/science.aat9513	journal	September 2018
GPS Meteorology: Direct Estimation of the Absolute Value of Precipitable Water Duan, Jingping; Bevis, Michael; Fang, Peng Journal of Applied Meteorology, Vol. 35, Issue 6 https://doi.org/10.1175/1520-0450(1996)035<0830:GMDEOT>2.0.CO;2	journal	June 1996
Radiative sky cooling: fundamental physics, materials, structures, and applications Sun, Xingshu; Sun, Yubo; Zhou, Zhiguang Nanophotonics, Vol. 6, Issue 5 https://doi.org/10.1515/nanoph-2017-0020	journal	July 2017

Similar Records

Roof-integrated radiative air-cooling system to achieve cooler attic for building energy saving

Journal Article · Mon Sep 23 00:00:00 EDT 2019 · Energy and Buildings · OSTI ID:1799028

Radiative sky cooling: Fundamental principles, materials, and applications

Journal Article · Tue Apr 16 00:00:00 EDT 2019 · Applied Physics Reviews · OSTI ID:1613653

Related Subjects

30 DIRECT ENERGY CONVERSION
air conditioners
building energy saving
radiative cooling
sky cooling
sub-ambient water cooling

A kW-scale, 24-hour continuously operational, radiative sky cooling system: Experimental demonstration and predictive modeling

Citation Formats

References (37)

Similar Records

Related Subjects