www.asse.

org/ijpresInternationalJournalofPowerandRenewableEnergySystemsVolume1,2014

ParametricAnalysisofEarthAirHeat
ExchangerSystemBasedonCFDModelling
TrilokSinghBisoniya*1,AnilKumar2,PrashantBaredar3
DepartmentofEnergy,MaulanaAzadNationalInstituteofTechnology,Bhopal462051(INDIA)
1

tsbisoniya@gmail.com;2anilkumar76@gmail.com;3prashant.baredar@gmail.com

Received20March2014;Accepted24June2014;Published11July2014
2014AmericanSocietyofScienceandEngineering
Abstract
A quasisteady state, threedimensional model was developed for simulation of earthair heat exchanger (EAHE) system. The
simulation model of EAHE system was developed in CFD platform CFX 12.0. The simulation results were validated against
experimental results obtained from experimental setup installed at Bhopal (Central India). A good agreement was observed
betweensimulationandexperimentalresults.Parametricanalysiswascarriedouttoexaminetheeffectofpipelength,piperadius,
airflowvelocityanddepthofburialontheperformanceofEAHEsystemforsummercooling.Thelongerpipeofsmallerdiameter
buriedathigherdepthandhavinglowerairflowvelocityresultedindecreaseinoutletairtemperatureofEAHEsystem.Though,
withincreaseindepthofpipeburialtrenchingcostincreasesatfasterratethandecreaseinoutletairtemperature.So,thedepthof
pipe burial about 2m could be taken in order to limit the initial/installation cost of EAHE system. The outlet air temperature
decreasedatfasterrateforfirst10mlengthofpipeandbecamemoderateafterwards.So,increasingthelengthofpipemorethan
2030m did not cause any significant rise in performance and improvements began to stabilize, indicated these values could be
optimal design values for hotand dry climatic conditions of Bhopal. The depth of pipeburial and air flow velocity came out to
havemoreinfluenceonthermalperformanceofEAHEsystemthanpipediameterandlength.
Keywords
CFDModelling;ParametricAnalysis;EarthairHeatExchanger;EarthsUndisturbedTemperature;CoefficientofCorrelation

Introduction
Earthairheatexchangerisatechniquewhichcaneffectivelyutilizethethermalinertiaofearthforheating/cooling
applications of buildings, offices, residential, industries etc. The air passes through pipes buried underground at a
particulardepthgetscooledinsummerseasonissuppliedtothespacetobeconditionedandviceversainwinter.
The thermal performance of EAHE system depends mainly on two factors: one is climatic conditions and soil
properties;secondisoperatingparameterslikeairflowvelocity,pipediameter,pipelengthanddepthofburial.The
climaticconditionsandsoilpropertiescannotbechangedso,toimprovethethermalperformanceofEAHEsystem
operatingparametersaretobeoptimized.AconsiderableamountofelectricalenergycanbesavedifEAHEsystemis
designedproperly.
SeveralresearchershavecarriedoutparametricanalysisofEAHEsystems.Mihalakakouetal.[1],LeeandStrand[2]
investigatedtheeffectofpiperadius,pipelength,airflowrateandpipedepthontheoverallperformanceoftheearth
tube under various conditions during cooling season. Pipe length and pipe depth turned out to affect the overall
coolingrateoftheearthtube,whilepiperadiusandairflowratemainlyaffectearthtubeinlettemperature.Misraet
al.[3]analyzedtheeffectsoftimedurationofcontinuousoperation,thermalconductivityofsoilpipediameterand
flowvelocityonthermalperformanceofEarthAirTunnelHeatExchanger(EATHE)undertransientconditions.They
foundthattheeffectofpipediameterduetoprolongeduseofEATHEsystemonitsthermalperformanceisleastin
case of soil with higher value of thermal conductivity and the increase in flow velocity leads to drop in thermal
performanceofEATHEsystem.Wuetal.[4]presentedatransientandimplicitnumericalmodelandimplementedit
on the CFD (Computational Fluid Dynamics platform), PHOENICS, to evaluate the effects of the operating
parameters(i.e.thepipelength,radius,depthandairflowrate)onthethermalperformanceandcoolingcapacityof
earthairpipesystems.Thesimulationresultswereobtainedforpipelengthof20,40and60m;piperadiusof0.1,
0.2and0.3m;depthofburialof1.6,3.2and5m;airflowrateof1,2and4m/s.Itwasconcludedthatlongerpipesand
higher depth of burial results in higher cooling capacity while increase in pipe radius and air flow rate results in
increaseofbothoutletairtemperatureandcoolingcapacity.Kabashnikovetal.[5]developedamathematicalmodel
for calculating the temperature of the ground and air in a ground heat exchanger for ventilation systems and
calculated the degree of decrease in the efficiency of the heat exchanger on decrease of the spacing between the

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InternationalJournalofPowerandRenewableEnergySystemsVolume1,2014www.asse.org/ijpres

tubes,aswellasthedependencesoftheheatpowerofthesystemonthelengthanddiameteroftubes,depthoftheir
burial,andairflowrate.Woodsonetal.[6]presentedacasestudytoanalyzethegroundtemperaturegradientand
performanceofEAHEatburialdepthof0.5m,1.0mand1.5minBurkinaFaso.
A quasisteady state, 3D model based on computational fluid dynamics was developed to perform the parametric
analysis of EAHE system. The effect of pipe length, pipe radius, air flow velocity and depth of burial with values
differentthanpreviousresearchershadused,ontheperformanceofEAHEispresentedinthispaper.Thesimulation
modelofEAHEsystemisdevelopedinCFDplatformCFX12.0whichwasalsolesscoveredinearlierresearch.The
climatic conditions and soil composition of Bhopal were also different than research work presented earlier. The
simulation results are validated with experimental results obtained from experimental setup installed at Bhopal
(CentralIndia).
CFD Modeling and Simulation
Modelingisveryusefultoolinordertopredicttheeffectoftheoperatingparameterslikepipelength,radius,depth
ofburialandairflowrateonthethermalperformanceandheating/coolingcapacityofEAHEsystems.Anumberof
computer modeling tools are commercially available. EnergPlus and TRNSYS have EAHE modules that work well,
howevertheseareanalysistoolsandarenotquicklyusedfordesign.Presently,ComputationalFluidDynamics(CFD)
isverypopularamongresearchersformodelingandperformanceanalysisofEAHEsystems.CFDcodesareprepared
around the numerical algorithms that can tackle fluid flow problems. The partial differential equations governing
airflow and heat transfer can be solved numerically in a discretised form with CFD. The effect of operating
parameters i.e. pipe length, radius, depth of burial and air flow rate on thermal performance and cooling/heating
capacityofEAHEcanbeanalyzed.SomeofthecommercialCFDcodesinuseareFLUENT,CFX,STARCD,FIDAP,
ADINA,CFD2000,PHOENICSandothers[7].
TheCFDcodeCFX12.0isusedforsimulationofEAHEsystem.Thefollowingassumptionsweremainlyconsideredin
CFDmodeling.

Thesurfacetemperatureofthegroundcanbetakenequaltotheambientairtemperature,whichequals
theinletairtemperature.

Earths undisturbed temperature can be approximated to annual average temperature of the location
(BhopalIndia).

ThePVCpipeusedinEAHEisofuniformcrosssection.

ThethicknessofpipeusedinEAHEisverysmallhencethermalresistanceofpipematerialisnegligible.

Thetemperatureonthesurfaceofpipeisuniformintheaxialdirection.

ThermalmodelofEAHEsystemwithspecifieddimensions(lengthofpipe,19.228m;diameter,0.1016manddepthof
burial,2m)isdevelopedinUnigraphicsNX7.0asshowninFig.1.ThemodelisimportedinICEMCFDwheremeshof
geometryisgenerated.TheCFDsimulationswereperformedconsidering3Dsteadystate,turbulentflow(kepsilon
model) enabling heat transfer and thermal energy. The 3D models become more popular in recent years because
these models are dynamic and technically more advanced. It can provide room for all types of grid geometry to
producedetailedthermalanalysisofEAHEsystems.Thetotalnumberofnodesandelementsgeneratedinmeshing
of geometry of EAHE were 1066370 and 3814194 respectively. So, approximately 3.8 million elements (control
volumes)wereusedinCFDanalysis.

FIG.1MODELOFEXPERIMENTALSETUPOFEAHESYSTEM

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EarthSUndisturbedTemperature
The earths undisturbed temperature is an important parameter in simulation of EAHE system. Assuming
homogeneoussoilofconstantthermaldiffusivity,thetemperatureatanydepthzandtimetcanbeestimatedbythe
followingexpression:(Labs[8])
cos

(1)

where , is ground temperature at time t (s) and depth z (m); , average soil surface temperature (0C); ,
amplitudeofsoilsurfacevariation(0C); ,soilthermaldiffusivity(m2/s;m2/day); timeelapsedfrombeginningof
calendaryear(day)and ,phaseconstantofsoilsurface(s;days).
Itisverydifficulttocalculateaccuratevalueofearthsundisturbedtemperaturebecausethesoilparametersareoften
unknown.Additionally,itisdefinedformeansoilproperties.Hence,earthsundisturbedtemperatureishypothetical
value which can be taken equal to annual averagesoil surface temperature of aparticular locality. Thesoil surface
temperature is assumed equal to the ambient air temperature. So, the earths undisturbed temperature for Bhopal
(Central India) is taken 25.20C which is equal to annual average temperature for the same (source: department of
meteorology,Bhopal).
BoundaryConditions
ThefollowingboundaryconditionswereusedintheCFDsimulationanalysisofEAHEsystem.
Inlet boundary conditions:AtinletofEAHEpipesubsonicflowregimewithmediumturbulencewastaken.The
valuesofnormalspeedofairflow(2,3.5,5m/s)andstatictemperatureofair(40.4,38.8,39.90C)atinletweretobe
defined. The thermodynamic properties (density and specific heat capacity) and transport properties (dynamic
viscosityandthermalconductivity)ofairweretobedefinedatstatictemperatureofairatinlet.
Outletboundary conditions:Insubsonicflowregime,therelativepressureatoutletofEHEpipewastakenequal
tozeroatm.
Wall: The locations along the length of EAHE pipe were defined where air temperature was to be measured. The
temperatureonthesurfaceofpipe(wall)wasuniforminaxialdirectionandwastakenequaltoearthsundisturbed
temperatureatBhopalcity(25.20C).Noslipconditionwithsmoothwallwastakenatinnersurfaceofthepipe.
GoverningEquations
Thefollowinggoverningtransportequationsin3DCartesiancoordinatesoffluidflowandheattransferhavebeen
usedintheanalysis[3].
Continuityequation:

0(2)

xMomentumequation:

(3)

yMomentumequation:

(4)

zMomentumequation:

(5)

Energyequation:

(6)

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InternationalJournalofPowerandRenewableEnergySystemsVolume1,2014www.asse.org/ijpres

Intheaboveequations,u,vandwarethevelocitycomponentsinx,yandzdirections;pandTarethepressureand
temperature of the flowing air; is kinematic viscosity and is soil thermal diffusivity. The main purpose of CFD
modelingistoanalyzetheeffectoftheoperatingparameterslikeairflowvelocity,pipelength,diameterandburial
depthofEAHEonthermalperformanceofEAHEsystem.ThethermophysicalpropertiesofPVCandairusedinCFD
simulationareshowninTable1.
TABLE1THERMOPHYSICALPROPERTIESOFMATERIALSUSEDINSIMULATION
Material
0

Airat40.4 C
PVC
Soil

Density
3
(kg/m )
1.1261
1380
2058

Specificheatcapacity
(J/kgK)
1006.9
900
1843

Thermalconductivity
(W/mK)
0.0271
0.16
0.54

Dynamicviscosity
(kg/ms)
1.9166E05

Simulation Results and Experimental Validation

The simulation results obtained from CFD modeling of EAHE are validated by experimental observationstaken on
actual experimental setup which is fabricated and installed at Bhopal (Central India) as shown in Fig. 2. The
experimentalsetupconsistsof19.228mlongPVCpipeof0.1016minnerdiameterwhichisburiedatadepthof2min
aflatlandwithblackcottonsoil.

FIG.2ACTUALPICTUREOFEAHEINSTALLATION

TheproperselectionofpipematerialandtypeofconfigurationofEAHEsystemisveryimportant.Thepipematerial
selection criterion for EAHE system mainly includes considerations of cost, strength, corrosion resistance and
durability.Bansaletal.[9],Bojicetal.[10]andmanyotherresearchersfoundthatthepipematerialhasverylittle
effect on performance of EAHE system. It is seen that the performance of EAHE system either with PVC or
polypropyleneormetallicpipesisalmostsimilar.ThePVCpipesareeasiertohandleandinstall.Theircostislowas
comparedtometallicpipes.ThelifeofPVCpipesisabout100yearsandtheyhavehighcorrosionresistanceatthe
sametime.So,PVCpipesarechosenforinstallationofEAHEsystem.Asforaspipearrangementisconcernedopen
loop system is preferred over closed loop system in order to maintain the purity and quality of air supplied to the
buildings.Inclosedloopsystem,moisturecondensationinsidethepipesisreducedandtheyalsoresultinthebetter
efficiencyoftheearthairheatexchangersystembutgivingtheimportancetoventilation,freshandbetterqualityair
supplytothebuildings,openloopsystemisadoptedinexperimentalsetup.
TheexperimentswerecarriedoutonMay17,2013atBhopal(India)prevailinghotanddryweatherconditionsduring
summer.Bothsimulationandexperimentalobservationsweretakenatairflowvelocitiesof2,3.5and5m/s.Table2
showscomparisonofexperimentalandsimulationtemperaturesatdifferentlocationsalongthelengthofPVCpipe.
InFig.3thelocationsofsixthermocouples(T1toT6)andTinandToutareshownonhorizontalaxis.Thevariationof
airtemperaturealongthelengthofpipefrominlettooutletisshownonverticalaxis.Fig.3indicatesthatthedropin
airtemperatureisfasterforinitiallengthofpipeanditbecomesmoderatefortheremaininglength.Itisseenthat
the maximum and minimum drop in air temperature of 12.90C and 11.30C occurs at air flow velocities of 2m/s and
5m/srespectively.Thisisbecauseofthefactthatastheairflowvelocityisincreased,thetimetowhichairremainsin
contactwithgroundisreduced.

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TABLE2COMPARISONOFEXPERIMENTALANDSIMULATEDTEMPERATURESATDIFFERENTLOCATIONSALONGTHELENGTHOFPVCPIPE
Location
Tin

Airflowvelocity=2m/s
Exp.
%
Sim.
Temp.
Temp.
diff.
40.4
40.4
0.00

Airflowvelocity=3.5m/s
Exp.
Sim.
%diff.
Temp.
Temp.
40.4
40.4
0.00

Airflowvelocity=5m/s
Exp.
Sim.
%diff.
Temp.
Temp.
40.4
40.4
0.00

T1

31.1

33.4

6.82

32.1

34.6

7.22

32.8

35.9

8.63

T2

25.9

28.1

7.82

27.0

29.1

7.21

27.9

29.8

6.37

T 3

25.6

27.9

8.24

26.6

28.7

7.31

27.4

29.5

7.11

T4

25.4

27.8

8.63

26.2

28.5

8.07

27.0

29.4

8.16
8.50

T5

25.4

27.6

5.79

26.0

28.3

8.12

26.9

29.4

T 6

25.3

27.5

8.00

25.8

28.2

8.51

26.7

29.2

8.56

Tout

25.2

27.5

8.37

25.7

28.2

8.86

26.6

29.1

8.59

TemperatureofAirinoC

42
40
38
36
34
32
30
28
26
24
22
20

2m/s
3.5m/s
5m/s

Tin

T1

T2

T3

T4

T5

SectionAlongLengthofEAHE

T6

Tout

FIG.3SIMULATEDTEMPERATURESALONGTHELENGTHOFTHEPIPEFORVARIOUSAIRFLOWVELOCITIES

Temperaturecontourat0.557m,4.557mand18.661mfrominletalongthelengthEAHEpipeforairflowvelocity2m/s
as obtained from CFD platform, CFX model of EAHE system are shown in Fig. 4. The variation in air temperature
fromcentralaxistowallofEAHEpipeinradialdirectioncanbevisualizedthroughtemperaturecontours.

(a)

(b)

(c)
FIG.4TEMPERATURECONTOURAT(A)0.557M,(B)4.557MAND(C)18.661MALONGTHEEAHEFROMINLET
FORAIRFLOWVELOCITY2M/S

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InliteratureitisfoundthatEAHEsystemsaremoreeffectiveforsummercoolingthanwinterheatingofbuildings.
So, experimental observations were taken in the month of May prevailing hot and dry weather conditions for
validationofCFDmodel.

AirtemperatureinoC

ThecomparisonofsimulationandexperimentalresultsobtainedatdifferentlocationsalongthelengthofEAHEpipe
forairflowvelocitiesof2,3.5and5m/sareshowninFigs.5,6and7respectively.
42
40
38
36
34
32
30
28
26
24
22
20

Cr=0.997
er=8.14%
Sim.Temp.
Exp.Temp.

Tin

T1

T2

T3

T4

T5

T6

Tout

LocationsalongthelengthofEAHE

AirtemperatureinoC

FIG.5TEMPERATUREDISTRIBUTIONALONGTHELENGTHOFTHEPIPEFORAIRFLOWVELOCITY2.0M/S

42
40
38
36
34
32
30
28
26
24
22
20

Cr=0.996
er=8.09%
Sim.Temp.
Exp.Temp.

Tin

T1

T2

T3

T4

T5

T6

Tout

LocationsalongthelengthofEAHE

AirtemperatureinoC

FIG.6TEMPERATUREDISTRIBUTIONALONGTHELENGTHOFTHEPIPEFORAIRFLOWVELOCITY3.5M/S

42
40
38
36
34
32
30
28
26
24
22
20

Cr=0.989
er=8.18%
Sim.Temp.
Exp.Temp.

Tin

T1

T2

T3

T4

T5

T6

Tout

LocationsalongthelengthofEAHE

FIG.7TEMPERATUREDISTRIBUTIONALONGTHELENGTHOFTHEPIPEFORAIRFLOWVELOCITY5M/S

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Statistical Analysis
Forvalidationofsimulationresultsagainstexperimentalresults,statisticalanalysispresentedbyChapraandCanale
[11]wascarriedouttocalculatecorrelationcoefficient(rvalue)androotmeanpercentageerror(evalue).
CoefficientOfCorrelation(RValue)
In order to validate the simulation results with experimental observations, correlation between simulation
(predicted) and experimental values is presented with a coefficient known as coefficient of correlation. The
coefficientofcorrelationcanbecalculatedbytheuseoffollowingequation:

(7)

Where represents the coefficient of correlation between experimental

and predicted

valuesfromCFDmodelandnisthenumberofobservations.Thevalueofcoefficientofcorrelationvariesfrom1to
+1. The positive value indicates positive correlation between simulation results and experimental observations
whereasthenegativevalueshowsnegativecorrelation.Ifthevalueofthecoefficientofcorrelationisgreaterthan0.8
itmeansthereisstrongrelationshipbetweenexperimentalobservationandsimulationresultsandatitsmaximum
value 1 means there is perfect relationship. The zero value of correlation coefficient means that there is no
relationship.
RootMeanSquareOfPercentageDeviation(EValue)
Howclosethesimulationresultswiththeexperimentaldataare,canbepresentedintermsofrootmeansquareof
percentdeviation.Therootmeansquareofpercentdeviation( )isgivenbyfollowingequation:

(8)

Where

100 and

and

are the predicted and experimental values for n number of

observations.Thevaluesofcoefficientofcorrelation( )androotmeansquareofpercentdeviation( )areshownin

Figs.5,6and7.Itisseenthatthevaluesofcoefficientofcorrelation( )androotmeansquareofpercentdeviation
( ) at air flow velocities 2, 3.5 and 5m/s through EAHE pipe are 0.997, 8.14%; 0.996, 8.09% and 0.989, 8.18%
respectively.ThisshowsthattheCFDmodelofEAHEsystempresentedinthispaperisingoodagreementwiththe
experimental results for hot and dry climate of Bhopal (India). So, the CFD simulation results can be used for
parametricanalysisofEAHEsystem.
Parametric Analysis
Theparametricanalysiswascarriedoutinordertodeterminetheeffectoffourimportantparametersnamelypipe
length, pipe diameter, depth of burial and air flow velocity on outlet air temperature of EAHE system. The EAHE
systemhashigherpotentialforsummercoolingcomparedtowinterheating.Therefore,theparametricanalysiswas
carriedoutonlyforsummercooling.
EffectOfPipeLength
The performance of EAHE system depends on total surface area of the pipes, which can be increased either by
increasing the pipe length or by increasing the pipediameter.But, it is found that greater length of pipe increases
pressuredropalongthepipeandenergyconsumptioninblowingairthroughpipesalsoincreaseswhileincreasein
diameterofpipereducesairflowrateandheattransfer.So,optimumvalueofpipediameterandlengthisdecidedon
thebasisofCFDsimulationresults.ItispresentedinFig.3thatthesimulatedairtemperaturedecreasesaswemove
farther from inlet towards outlet along the length of pipe. The decrease in air temperature is sharp for the first 10
meters length of pipe and it becomes moderate afterwards. Forhot anddry climatic conditions of Bhopal (Central
India) where the highest temperature in summer goes up to 430C, the EAHE pipe length of about 20m results in
decrease in air temperature up to 150C. So, increasing the length of pipe more than 2030m does not cause any
significant rise in performance and improvements begin to stabilize, indicating these values can be optimal design

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InternationalJournalofPowerandRenewableEnergySystemsVolume1,2014www.asse.org/ijpres

valuesforhotanddryclimaticconditionsofBhopal.
EffectOfPipeDiameter
Fig. 8 presents the variation of air temperature along the length of pipe of EAHE for pipe diameters 0.1016 and
0.1524matairflowvelocityof5m/sasobtainedfromCFDsimulationresults.Itwasobservedthatwithincreasein
pipediameter,theoutletairtemperatureofEAHEincreasesbecausetheconvectiveheattransfercoefficientatinner
surfaceofpipeaswellasoverallheattransfercoefficientatearthpipeinterfacedecreasesathigherpipediameters.
Furthermore,withdecreaseinpipediameterkeepingairflowrateresultsinincreaseinairflowvelocityandfinally
outlet air temperature increases. So, air flow rate and pipe diameter should be considered simultaneously and
optimizedusingCFDsimulation.

42

Airtemperaturein0C

40
38
36
34
32
30
28

D=0.1016m

26

D=0.1524m

24
22
Tin

T1

T2

T3

T4

T5

T6

Tout

LocationsalongthelengthofEAHE

FIG.8SIMULATEDTEMPERATURESALONGTHELENGTHOFTHEPIPEFORDIFFERENTPIPEDIAMETERS(D)ATAIRFLOWVELOCITY
5M/S

EffectOfDepthOfPipeBurial
TheeffectofdepthofpipeburialonoutletairtemperatureofEAHEsystemisshowninFig.9.Withincreaseindepth
of pipe burial, outlet air temperature of EAHE system decreases. So, pipes of EAHE system should be installed as
deeplyaspossible.TheoutletairtemperatureofEAHEsystematdepthofpipeburial2and3mwerefound26.6and
25.5oCrespectivelyaspersimulationresults.
42
Airtemperaturein0C

40
38
36
34
32
30
28

Z=2m

26

Z=3m

24
22
Tin

T1

T2

T3

T4

T5

T6

Tout

LocationsalongthelengthofEAHE
FIG.9SIMULATEDTEMPERATURESALONGTHELENGTHOFTHEPIPEFORDIFFERENTDEPTHOFBURIAL(Z)ATAIRFLOWVELOCITY
5M/S

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Thecostofexcavationoftrenchtoincreaseitsdepthfrom2mto3mincreasedbyabout50%whiledecreaseinoutlet
air temperature achieved is only 4.13%. It indicates that by increasing the depthof pipe burial, the excavation cost
increasesatmuchfasterratethandecreaseinoutletairtemperature.OneofthedrawbacksofEAHEsystemisthat
itsinitial/installationcostishighincomparisontoconventionalairconditioners.So,itisadvisedtokeepdepthof
pipeburialabout2minordertolimittheinitial/installationcostofEAHEsystem.
EffectOfAirFlowVelocity
Fig. 3 shows the effect of air flow velocity on outlet air temperature of EAHE system. It is seen in CFD simulation
resultsthattheoutletairtemperatureofEAHEsystemincreaseswithincreaseinairflowvelocity.Thisisbecauseof
thefactthatastheairflowvelocityisincreased,thetimetowhichairremainsincontactwithgroundisreduced.The
coolingcapacityofEAHEwascalculatedbythefollowingequation:

(9)
; ,massflowrateofairthroughpipeassembly(kg/s);
Where iscoolingcapacityofEAHE(W);
diameterofthepipe(m); ,densityofairatgiveninlettemperature(kg/m3); ,airflowvelocitythroughthepipe
airtemperatureatoutlet
(m/s); specificheatcapacityofair(J/kgK); airtemperatureatinletofEAHEand
ofEAHE(0C).
The CFD simulation results show that at air flow velocities 2 and 5 m/s, the temperature difference and cooling
capacity of EAHE obtained were 15.2 and 13.80C and 279.47 and 634.32 W respectively. It indicates that the
performance of EAHE cannot be increased only by decreasing the air flow velocity because the cooling capacity of
EAHE system depends both on air flow velocity and temperature difference. So, both air flow velocity and
temperaturedifferenceshouldbeconsideredatthesametime.
The effect of operating parameters on the performance of EAHE system as discussed above shown almost similar
resultsandtrendsasshowninotherstudies[12,2].
Conclusion
The earthair heat exchangers are effective passive cooling/heating technique for buildings, offices, residential,
industriesetc.Aquasisteadystate,3Dmodelbasedoncomputationalfluiddynamicswasdevelopedtoperformthe
parametric analysis of EAHE system. The effect of four parameters pipe length, pipe radius, air flow velocity and
depthofburialontheperformanceofEAHEwasstudied.TheEAHEsystemhashigherpotentialforsummercooling
compared to winter heating. Therefore, the parametric analysis was carried out only for summer cooling and
followingconclusionsweremade:

44

The statistical analysis carried out for validation of simulation results against experimental results gave
thevaluesofcoefficientofcorrelation( )androotmeansquareofpercentdeviation( )intherangeof
0.9890.997and8.098.18%respectivelyforairflowvelocities25m/s.So,goodagreementwasobserved
betweensimulationandexperimentalresults.Thus,CFDmodelwassuitablyusedforparametricanalysis
ofEAHEsystem.

With increase in length of pipe, the outlet air temperature from EAHE decreases. The decrease in air
temperature was sharp for the first 10 meters length of pipe and it became moderate afterwards. So,
increasing the length of pipe more than 2030m did not cause any significant rise in performance and
improvementsbegantostabilize,indicatedthesevaluescouldbeoptimaldesignvaluesforhotanddry
climaticconditionsofBhopal.

Itwasobservedthatwithincreaseinpipediameter,theoutletairtemperatureofEAHEincreasesbecause
theconvectiveheattransfercoefficientatinnersurfaceofpipeaswellasoverallheattransfercoefficient
atearthpipeinterfacedecreasesathigherpipediameters.

With increase in depth of pipe burial, outlet air temperature of EAHE system decreases. So, pipes of
EAHEsystemshouldbeinstalledasdeeplyaspossiblebutitincreasesexcavationcost.So,itisadvisedto
keepdepthofpipeburialabout2minordertolimittheinitial/installationcostofEAHEsystem.

TheoutletairtemperatureofEAHEsystemincreaseswithincreaseinairflowvelocity.Thisisbecauseof
thefactthatastheairflowvelocityisincreased,thetimetowhichairremainsincontactwithgroundis
reduced.TheperformanceofEAHEcannotbeincreasedonlybydecreasingtheairflowvelocitybecause
the cooling capacity of EAHE systemdepends both on air flow velocity and temperaturedifference. So,
bothairflowvelocityandtemperaturedifferenceshouldbeconsideredatthesametime.

InternationalJournalofPowerandRenewableEnergySystemsVolume1,2014www.asse.org/ijpres

The CFD played a key role in modelling and simulation of EAHE system and in determining its suitability for a
particularapplication.Theoperatingparameters(pipelength,diameter,depthofburial,airflowvelocity)andtheir
optimum combinations can be determined by the parametric analysis presented in this paper. It is expected by
authors that this analysis will be very useful to researchers and scientists working in the field of passive
heating/coolingofbuildingsmainlywiththeuseofEAHEsystems.Thefutureworkofthisparametricstudyincludes
embodiedenergyanalysisofEAHEsystemandcalculationofcarboncreditsearnedbyit.
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potential for passive cooling applications. Solar Energy 55(3) (1995): 163173.
Trilok Singh Bisoniya*, graduated in Mechanical Engineering from Govt. Engineering College, Bilaspur,
Madhya PradeshINDIA in the year 1994.He did M.Tech (honors) in Thermal Engineering from Maulana
Azad National Institute of Technology, Bhopal, Madhya PradeshINDIA in the year 2008. He has been
actively involved in teaching and research in the area of refrigeration and airconditioning and continuing
hislecturesinHeat&MassTransfer,TurboMachineryandRefrigeration&AirConditioningfor09years.He
hasworkedinthefieldofevaporativecooling.Presentlyheisworkinginthefieldofgeothermalenergyand
its use in refrigeration and airconditioning applications. He has published 10 research papers in
International/National referred journals and conferences. Prof. Bisoniya. *Corresponding author: TeleFax:
+917553983180,Mobile:+919826880430.Emailaddress:tsbisoniya@gmail.com
Dr. Anil Kumar,PhD,isAssistantProfessorinDepartmentofEnergyatMaulanaAzadNationalInstituteof
Technology, Bhopal. He was awarded Senior Research fellowship during his doctorate programme from
CentreforEnergyStudies,IndianInstituteofTechnologyDelhi.Hehasbeenactivelyinvolvedinteachingand
researchintheareaofEnergyandEnvironmentandcontinuinghislecturesinEnergy,Environment,Ecology
andSocietyfor7years.HismajorresearchareasareinthefieldofRenewableEnergy,SolarThermalEnergy
andHeatTransfer.Hehaspublishedabout45researchpapersinInternational/Nationalreferredjournalsand
conferences. He has a patent on modified green energy dryer system. He has been a resources person in
several International/National conferences. Dr. Kumar. Second author: Mobile: +919425680448. Email
address:anilkumar76@gmail.com

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www.asse.org/ijpresInternationalJournalofPowerandRenewableEnergySystemsVolume1,2014

Dr. Prashant Baredar, PhD, is Associate Professor in Department of Energy at Maulana Azad National
InstituteofTechnology,Bhopal.HehasspecializationinThermalEngineeringandIntegratedEnergySystems.
Hehasbeenactivelyinvolvedinteachingandresearchinthefieldofthermalengineeringandenergysystems
for15years.Hehaspublishedabout38researchpapersinInternational/Nationalreferredjournalsandabout30
researchpapersinvariousconferences.Hehasguided14 MTechthesis.HeislifememberofSAEandISTE.
Under his supervision about 4 research scholars are working for their PhD submission. Dr. Baredar. Third
author:Mobile:+919406511666Emailaddress:prashant.baredar@gmail.com.

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