Thermodynamic analysis of building heating or cooling using the soil as heat reservoir

Soil can be used as heat reservoir for building heating or cooling purposes, as the underground temperature is different of the ambient air temperature. Ambient air is heated or cooled when flowing along a tube installed underground, and this air with changed temperature is introduced in the building. This problem can be studied in many ways, the main differences being the objectives and the considered details of the flow and temperature fields. In the present work a thermodynamic analysis is made, and important criteria are obtained in what concerns both the construction parameters (diameter and length of the tube installed underground) and the operation parameters (mass flow rate and heating or cooling effect). For such an analysis it is of crucial importance the consideration of the entropy generation minimization criterion which leads to the best thermodynamic performance of the system. Results are presented for three different specified operating conditions, which can be used for a better understanding of the heating or cooling systems using the soil as heat reservoir, as well as to give guidelines and limits when more detailed analysis are to be made.

[1]  A. Inaba,et al.  CO2 payback–time assessment of a regional-scale heating and cooling system using a ground source heat–pump in a high energy–consumption area in Tokyo , 2002 .

[2]  Takeo S. Saitoh,et al.  Advanced energy-efficient house (HARBEMAN house) with solar thermal, photovoltaic, and sky radiation energies (experimental results) , 2001 .

[3]  R. L. Sawhney,et al.  An experimental study of summer performance of a recirculation type underground airpipe air conditioning system , 1998 .

[4]  Miroslav Bojic,et al.  Numerical simulation, technical and economic evaluation of air-to-earth heat exchanger coupled to a building , 1997 .

[5]  M Inalli,et al.  A computational model of a domestic solar heating system with underground spherical thermal storage , 1997 .

[6]  Moncef Krarti,et al.  ANALYTICAL MODEL FOR HEAT TRANSFER IN AN UNDERGROUND AIR TUNNEL , 1996 .

[7]  Halime Paksoy,et al.  Heating and cooling of a hospital using solar energy coupled with seasonal thermal energy storage in an aquifer , 2000 .

[8]  Alvaro T. Prata,et al.  Experimental analysis of unsteady heat and moisture transfer around a heated cylinder buried into a porous medium , 1999 .

[9]  Natale Arcuri,et al.  Prototype experimental plant for the interseasonal storage of solar energy for the winter heating of buildings: Description of plant and its functions , 1995 .

[10]  G. Mihalakakou,et al.  An underground pipe system as an energy source for cooling/heating purposes , 1995 .

[11]  Arif Hepbasli,et al.  Experimental study of a closed loop vertical ground source heat pump system , 2003 .

[12]  Takeo S. Saitoh.  A highly-advanced solar house with solar thermal and sky radiation cooling , 1999 .

[13]  O. Büyükalaca,et al.  Experimental investigation of Seyhan River and dam lake as heat source–sink for a heat pump , 2003 .

[14]  Shintaro Yokoyama,et al.  Field performance of a Japanese low energy home relying on renewable energy , 2001 .

[15]  Mustafa Inalli,et al.  Design parameters for a solar heating system with an underground cylindrical tank , 1998 .

[16]  S. C. Kaushik,et al.  Performance evaluation and energy conservation potential of earth–air–tunnel system coupled with non-air-conditioned building , 2003 .

[17]  A. Bejan.  Convection Heat Transfer , 1984 .

[18]  A. Bejan.  Advanced Engineering Thermodynamics , 1988 .

[19]  Frank P. Incropera,et al.  Fundamentals of Heat and Mass Transfer , 1981 .

[20]  F. Perrier,et al.  Long-term thermal evolution and effect of low power heating in an underground quarry , 2003 .