Thermal Performance of EAHE System in Algerian Site: Case Study of Ghardaia

Abstract

Among the renewable energies there is geothermal energy, conventional air conditioning has negative consequences on the environment, to have an economical and sustainable solution: the EAHE respond to this concern. In the current study, the study of the thermal performance of the earth-air heat exchanger (EAHE) has been completed. For the impact of transient heat transfer in the ground near the hose, the thermal saturation of the ground is well mentioned. In addition, the role of the burial depth of the EAHE system is also taken into account during this work. The suitable depth of the buried tubes was determined by implementing the thermo-physical properties of the soil of the studied site located in Ghardaïa (Algeria) by writing a specific program. A parametric investigation was accomplished the effects of the length and the diameter of the pipe, in addition the speed of the inlet air on the temperature of the outlet of the EAHE system in both cases PVC and HDPE material. The results showed that the optimal parameters in order to obtain a good performance for the studied EAHE: maximal value of pipe length, and minimal values of diameter pipe and air velocity 30 mm and 1.2 m/s respectively.