Utilization of earth-to-air heat exchanger to pre-cool/heat ventilation air and its annual energy performance evaluation: A case study

Abstract

An earth-to-air heat exchanger (EAHE) system utilizes the low-grade thermal energy of underground soil to warm up and cool down the flowing air within an underground buried pipe. Integrating the EAHE system with building ventilation can reduce the energy demand for conditioning ventilation air. The main purposes of this paper are to estimate the year-round energy-saving potential of the EAHE-assisted building ventilation system and provide its design guidelines in a hot-summer and cold-winter climate. A steady-state heat transfer model was proposed to calculate the outlet air temperature of an EAHE and further identify its ability to preheat and precool ventilation air. Influences of depth, length, and diameter of a buried pipe on the year-round thermal performance of the EAHE system were evaluated. The results show that considering the compromise between thermal performance and construction costs of the EAHE system, a depth of 5 m and a length of 80 m are recommended. The EAHE system can provide a mean daily cooling and heating capacity of 19.6 kWh and 19.3 kWh, respectively. Moreover, the utilization of the EAHE system can reduce by 16.0% and 50.1% the energy demand for cooling and heating ventilation air throughout the whole year.