A sustainable approach to improve the efficiency of earth pipe cooling system (original) (raw)
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Numerical Study on Improving the Efficiency of the Earth Pipe Cooling System
E3S Web of Conferences, 2018
Earth pipe cooling (EPC) is one of the passive cooling systems which has proven to be a very energy efficient sustainable cooling technique for the sub-tropical areas. This cooling system uses the soil as a medium of heat transfer. Efficiency of this system largely depends on the velocity of the cooling air, shape of the cooling space, pattern of the walls in cooling space, inlet size and position of the incoming air. It is well-known that increasing the velocity of the cooling air will improve the efficiency of the cooling system. Therefore, this study focused on the optimization of the shape and pattern of the inlet which might improve the efficiency of the cooling system. ANSYS Fluent is used to perform this simulation-based study. It is found that inclusion of aerofoil shaped turbulator in the inlet cross sectional area provide better circulation of the air inside the cooling space, thus, enhance the effectiveness of the system.
Comparison of Earth Pipe Cooling Performance Between two Different Piping Systems
Energy Procedia, 2014
Rational use of energy and power is a key to the economic development of human society and to achieve sustainable environment. Power and energy have been the major contributors to the global warming and researchers around the world have put a lot of effort to find new ways to save and control energy through energy efficient measures. Earth pipe cooling technology is considered as one of the viable options to save energy for a hot and humid subtropical climate. This paper presents the comparison of earth pipe cooling performance between two different piping systems for a hot and humid subtropical climatic zone in Queensland, Australia. Two different piping systems of vertical and horizontal were laid in the ground in order to compare the cooling performance. A thermal model is developed for the earth pipe cooling system using ANSYS Fluent. Data were collected from two modelled rooms connected with the two different piping layouts and systems. Impact of air temperature and velocity on room cooling performance is also assessed. A temperature reduction is observed for both the piping systems. The results indicate that the vertical piping system shows better performance in comparison with the horizontal piping system.
Numerical Computation of Thermal Performance of Earth Pipe Cooling Systems
SSRN Electronic Journal, 2023
For a sustainable environment and economy, energy efficiency and greenhouse gas emissions have grown to be major concerns. Buildings today consume a significant amount of energy, making up about 40% of global energy consumption. Research is still being done to find ways around these problems and create fresh ideas using energy-saving techniques. Passive air cooling of earth pipe cooling is one method for reducing greenhouse gas emissions while increasing energy efficiency in buildings. Air velocity, pipe length, diameter, material, and pipe depth are among the factors that affect how well the earth pipe cooling system performs. the effect of horizontal pipe dimensions, pipe materials, and modifications to inlet air velocity on the research. Finally, an improved model is developed, which is anticipated to produce the best results.
Earth Pipe Cooling Strategy in Buildings: A Sustainable Approach
Abundant energy supply is one of the preconditions of economic growth, however, the economic growth in turn leads to higher energy consumption to support higher living standard. The energy demand is increasing at an alarming rate throughout the world, which may lead to scarcity of energy in near future. Most of this energy is used in buildings for heating and cooling. Therefore, it is important to adopt a system to save energy in buildings without using any habitual mechanical devices. Passive air cooling is such a system assists us to save energy in passive process. Earth pipe cooling strategy is one of them, which can cool a space with minimal energy. In this strategy, air comes through a pipe inlet and passes underground via buried pipes, transfers heat to the earth (soil), gets cooler and goes to the room through pipe outlet. This paper reviews the earth pipe cooling performance in different climates by an intensive literature survey. The performance was also compared with other common passive air cooling strategies used in buildings. The findings of the study recommend an optimum passive air cooling guidelines, and passive air cooling products to the occupants of the buildings.
Parametric study on thermal performance of horizontal earth pipe cooling system in summer
Energy Conversion and Management, 2016
Rational use of energy and its associated greenhouse gas emissions has become a key issue for a sustainable environment and economy. A substantial amount of energy is consumed by today’s buildings which are accountable for about 40% of the global energy consumption. There are on-going researches in order to overcome these and find new techniques through energy efficient measures. Passive air cooling of earth pipe cooling technique is one of those which can save energy in buildings with no greenhouse gas emissions. The performance of the earth pipe cooling system is mainly affected by the parameters, namely air velocity, pipe length, pipe diameter, pipe material, and pipe depth. This paper investigates the impact of these parameters on thermal performance of the horizontal earth pipe cooling system in a hot humid subtropical climate at Rockhampton, Australia. For the parametric investigation, a thermal model was developed for the horizontal earth pipe cooling system using the simulation program, FLUENT 15.0. Results showed a significant effect for air velocity, pipe length, and pipe diameter on the earth pipe cooling performance, where the pipe length dominated the other parameters.
The potential of low energy earth pipe cooling in hot and humid Malaysia
2012
This paper presents a study on the performance of Low Energy Earth Pipe Cooling in Malaysia which has hot and humid climate throughout the year. The increasing demand of airconditioning for cooling purposes motivates this investigation in search for better cooling alternative. The passive technology, where the ground was used as a heat sink to produce cooler air, has not been investigated systematically in hot and humid countries. Therefore, in this work, air and soil temperatures were measured on a test site in Kuala Lumpur. At 1m underground, the result is most significant, where the soil temperature are 6 o C and 9 o C lower than the maximum ambient temperature during wet and dry season, respectively. Polyethylene pipes were then buried around 0.5m, 1.0m and 1.5m underground and temperature reduction between inlet and outlet were compared in two different seasons; wet and dry seasons. A significant temperature reduction was found in these pipes: up to 6.4 o C and 6.9 o C depending on the season of the year. The results have shown the potential of Earth Pipe in providing low energy cooling in Malaysia. The temperature reduction is enough to help reduce escalating energy consumption in Malaysia.
Performance analysis of earth–pipe–air heat exchanger for summer cooling
Energy and Buildings, 2010
Earth-pipe-air heat exchanger (EPAHE) systems can be used to reduce the cooling load of buildings in summer. A transient and implicit model based on computational fluid dynamics was developed to predict the thermal performance and cooling capacity of earth-air-pipe heat exchanger systems. The model was developed inside the FLUENT simulation program. The model developed is validated against experimental investigations on an experimental set-up in Ajmer (Western India). Good agreement between simulated results and experimental data is obtained. Effects of the operating parameters (i.e. the pipe material, air velocity) on the thermal performance of earth-air-pipe heat exchanger systems are studied. The 23.42 m long EPAHE system discussed in this paper gives cooling in the range of 8.0-12.7 8C for the flow velocities 2-5 m/s. Investigations on steel and PVC pipes have shown that the performance of the EPAHE system is not significantly affected by the material of the buried pipe (pipe). Velocity of air through the pipe is found to greatly affect the performance of EPAHE system. The COP of the EPAHE system discussed in this paper varies from 1.9 to 2.9 for increase in velocity from 2.0 to 5.0 m/s. ß
Numerical Modelling of Hybrid Vertical Earth Pipe Cooling System
Buildings consume a significant amount of energy and they are responsible for approximately 40% of the total world annual energy consumption. Most of this energy is for the provision of cooling and heating which can be reduced by adopting various energy efficient technologies. Passive air cooling of earth pipe cooling technology is one of them which assist to save energy in the dwellings and buildings for all subtropical zones. It is an approach for cooling specific area in a passive process without using any customary or habitual units such as fan, compressor etc. The paper reports a numerical model of hybrid vertical earth pipe cooling system by combining a vertical earth pipe cooling system with a green roof system. The numerical model was developed using ANSYS Fluent. Data were collected from three air conditioned modelled rooms one of which was connected to a vertical earth pipe cooling system, another to a green roof system and the other to a standard room (not connected to an...
The implementation of the earth-air pipe heat exchanger (EAPHE) system as a passive cooling technology for both residential and commercial buildings in the hot humid climate of Malaysia is relatively new. To date this technology has not been implemented in Malaysia, although it is proven in many studies particularly in drier climates, that it has the potential to reduce energy consumption for passive cooling. Studies by local researchers on EAPHE are also limited as a passive cooling system for the country. Thinner on the ground are the potentials of the appropriate pipe materials for the EAPHE system. The study investigated the most appropriate pipe materials that will predict the optimum air temperature reduction through computer simulation studies for achieving thermal comfort. The study utilizes the EnergyPlus environmental simulation program to investigate the performances of three pipe materials system: single pipe material, hybrid pipes and insulated hybrid pipes system. Through an exhaustive enumeration process the study found that the insulated hybrid pipes system gave the best temperature reduction indicating promising cooling and energy savings potentials.
MATEC Web of Conferences, 2020
The Earth-Air Heat Exchanger (EAHE) system was used for many years for both primary heating and cooling applications, especially in the building sector. Its energy performance can be influenced by three principal factors: the EAHE pipe material, the airflow rate, the soil characteristics and the moisture content. The state of the art shows a divergence about the effect of the pipe material on the performance of the EAHE. The aim of this study is to provide an adequate response to this problematic based on experimental analysis. In this regard, we tested two EAHEX of different materials: PVC and Zinc. The comparative study was conducted under a warm temperate climate in the north of Algeria. The data analyses showed that the pipe material can significantly affect the EAHE performance during periods when the EAHE passes from heating to cooling mode. Furthermore, the air outlet temperature differences provided by EAHE Zinc and those of PVC up to about 7.5°C.