Eventos Anais de eventos
COBEM 2021
26th International Congress of Mechanical Engineering
COBEM2021-0525 Solar Chimney coupled to an Earth-to-Air Heat Exchanger for Passive Cooling and Power Generation: a Payback Analysis
Submission Author:
Erick Oliveira , RJ
Co-Authors:
Erick Oliveira, Daduí Cordeiro Guerrieri, ronney mancebo, José Luiz Zanon Zotin
Presenter: Erick Oliveira
doi://10.26678/ABCM.COBEM2021.COB2021-0525
Abstract
The International Renewable Energy Agency, IRENA, reports that 49% of energy consumption is related to heating and cooling processes, which are included the air conditioning needs for the buildings. Earth-Air Heat Exchanger (EAHE) is a passive cooling technique used to heat or cool the air temperature, and Solar Chimney (SC) is a passive ventilation technique. This work aims to analyze the combination of a 2 m depth EAHE and a 1.6 m height SC, as a sustainable way to reduce the energy costs associated with the cooling system. The simulation results were compared to a commercial 18,000 BTU/h inverter type air-conditioner. The economic analysis considered the estimated installation costs of the proposed system and compared them to the operating costs of the commercial air conditioner, showing promising results. In a specific scenario that aims to maintain predefined environmental conditions, a dwelling using an air conditioner and an EAHE simultaneously would be able to reduce energy consumption to about 40%, which could still be partially supplied by the PV panel. The investment payback to implement this system is estimated to be 6 years, making the proposed system an interesting alternative to reduce energy consumption related to heating and cooling in buildings.
Keywords
sustainability, Solar Energy, Earth-Air Heat Exchangers (EAHE), Passive Cooling System, thermal comfort
