Abstract:
Space heating and cooling is a comfort requirement which results in a significant amount of energy consumption. EATHE (Earth Air Thermal Heat Exchanger) is one of the passive ways of space heating and cooling that can reduce the energy consumption notably. In this paper, the effect of different geometric parameters; cross section of the pipe, inclusion of fins on the pipe, pitch of multiple pipe arrangements on the thermal performance of EATHEs under steady and transient conditions were analyzed. Since, the performance deteriorates over the continuous operation of the EATHEs, their performance under periodic operations were studied. A validated three- dimensional, transient numerical model was used to carry out the analysis. The governing equations, based on the k–Ɛ model and energy equation were used to describe the turbulence and heat transfer phenomena. The results are compared in terms of the outlet temperature of air and heat transfer rate.
