A new computational modeling to predict the behavior of Earth-Air Heat Exchangers

Abstract

The use of renewable energy sources to improve the thermal conditions of built environments and hencedecreasing the consumption of conventional energy is an important aspect to design a sustainable build-ing. Within this context, it is possible to harness the solar energy that reaches the Earth’s surface andis stored by the soil as thermal energy. To do so, the Earth-Air Heat Exchanger (EAHE) device can beemployed, consisting of a buried duct through which the external ambient air is insufflated. The flowingair exchanges heat with surround soil, and leaves the device with a milder temperature compared to itsinput temperature. The main goal of this work was to present a new computational modeling to predictthe thermal behavior of EAHE. This new numerical model has the advantage of needing a lower com-putational effort, allowing the study about the influence of operational and constructive parameters, aswell as, the application of geometric optimization methods in EAHE. A case study was developed whereinfluence of the installation depth in the thermal potential of an EAHE was investigated. The results arein agreement with those found in literature; however they were obtained with a reduction in processingtime of almost 45%.