Eventos Anais de eventos
ENCIT 2018
Brazilian Congress of Thermal Sciences and Engineering
THERMAL PERFORMANCE AND GEOMETRIC OPTIMIZATION OF AN EARTH-PIPE-AIR HEAT EXCHANGER (EPAHE) IN DIFFERENT SOILS
Submission Author:
Douglas Pereira Vasconcellos , PR
Co-Authors:
Douglas Pereira Vasconcellos, Gerson Henrique dos Santos
Presenter: Gerson Henrique dos Santos
doi://10.26678/ABCM.ENCIT2018.CIT18-0230
Abstract
The concept of using the soil as a heat sink has increased in recent years. Nowadays, the earth-pipe-air heat exchanger (EPAHE) is considered a promising alternative to the problem of rational use of energy and comfort control in buildings, due to their higher energy efficiency compared to the conventional heating and cooling systems. In this context, in order to optimize the installation of these systems, different geometric configurations and thermal performance of an earth-air heat exchanger were analyzed numerically using a Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) tool. Two configurations of earth-pipe-air heat exchangers (EPAHE) (two tube passes and four tube passes) were analyzed and the spacing between the tubes has also been verified. Three-dimensional CFD analysis were performed in steady state condition and the standard k-ε turbulence model has been used for the air flow. The results showed that the four tube passes model provide better thermal performance than the two tube passes system, requiring smaller area for installation. Furthermore, it has been found that saturated soils increase the performance of EPAHE.
Keywords
EPAHE, passive cooling, CFD
