In order to understand the energy consumption in the radiation heat transfer process from multiple perspectives, in this paper, we regard the materials and energy involved in the heat transfer process of the Elstein ceramic infrared radiator as a system, while the surrounding materials as the environment, and simplify the heat transfer process into a "radiation heat transfer system" as shown in Figure 1.
In this system, it mainly includes radiator (heat source), heating material and other structures (such as installation structure). At the same time, the heating occasion is a relatively closed space. Therefore, we regard the air in the space as a part of the heat transfer system, while the substances outside the system (such as mechanical structure, thermal insulation layer, air, etc.) are simplified as "environment".
The energy (thermal) transmission path is reflected in the figure.
In this system, when the electric energy passes through the radiator coil, the coil heats up and transfers the energy to the ceramic body in the form of heat conduction. The ceramic heats up and radiates infrared rays to other parts of the system (shown as a red straight line). The temperature of materials, air, structures, etc. in the system continues to rise after radiation. At the same time, energy exchange between various parts will take place in the form of radiation, convection, conduction, etc. (magenta and green straight lines are shown in the figure). And between the system and the environment, there will be continuous energy exchange (shown in the blue line).
From the schematic diagram, we can see intuitively that in the radiation heat transfer system, the proportion of energy that can really be used by the heating materials is very small. In other words, the energy loss is objective and very large. So, how can we improve the efficiency of radiation heating and reduce energy consumption? The research shows that the energy consumption of the heating system is closely related to the radiator performance, the material properties of the heating materials, the system structure and the environment. We might as well discuss these aspects.