Experimental and numerical analysis of soil-to-air heat exchanger system for domestic buildings

Abstract

Soil-to-air heat exchanger concept is one of the efficient methods to reduce the cooling effort required for any air conditioning system. In this paper, a theoretical model of soil-to-air heat exchanger has been developed to predict the air temper-ature in the outlet of the system during a hot atmospheric condition. This theoreti-cal model is used to predict the sub-soil temperature for a specific ambient condi-tion in a southern part of India and also compared with the measured sub-soil temperature. Performance of the soil-to-air heat exchanger system has been cal-culated during peak hours in summer and found to have the potential to reduce the energy required to cool the building.