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Simulation of dynamic interactions of the earth–air heat exchanger with soil and atmosphere for preheating of ventilation air

Gan, Guohui

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Abstract

Earth–air tunnel ventilation is an energy efficient means of preheating and cooling of supply air to a building. Due to changing soil and atmospheric conditions and the consequent changes in heating and cooling loads of a building during operation, an earth–air heat exchanger interacts with the environments and the performance varies with the conditions. A computer program has been developed for modelling of coupled heat and moisture transfer in soil and for simulation of the thermal performance of an earth–air heat exchanger for building ventilation, taking account of dynamic variations of climatic, load and soil conditions. The importance of dynamic interactions between the three media – heat exchanger, soil and atmosphere – is illustrated from the comparison of the heat transfer rates and supply air temperature through the heat exchanger under continuous and intermittent operation in heating seasons. It is shown that neglecting the interactions between any two or all three media would significantly over or under predict the heat transfer rate and air temperature. Neglecting the interactions between the heat exchanger, soil and ventilating air would over predict the thermal performance of an earth–air heat exchanger whereas neglecting the interactions between the soil surface and atmosphere would fail to produce reliable data for long term operational performance of the earth–air heat exchanger installed in shallow ground. The level of over-prediction could be larger for intermittent operation than for continuous operation.

Citation

Gan, G. (2015). Simulation of dynamic interactions of the earth–air heat exchanger with soil and atmosphere for preheating of ventilation air. Applied Energy, 158, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.apenergy.2015.08.081

Journal Article Type Article
Acceptance Date Aug 16, 2015
Online Publication Date Aug 28, 2015
Publication Date Nov 15, 2015
Deposit Date Jul 6, 2016
Publicly Available Date Jul 6, 2016
Journal Applied Energy
Print ISSN 0306-2619
Electronic ISSN 0306-2619
Publisher Elsevier
Peer Reviewed Peer Reviewed
Volume 158
DOI https://doi.org/10.1016/j.apenergy.2015.08.081
Keywords Earth–air heat exchanger; Building ventilation; Energy efficient heating; Heat and moisture transfer; Soil property; Thermal interaction
Public URL https://nottingham-repository.worktribe.com/output/766739
Publisher URL http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.apenergy.2015.08.081
Contract Date Jul 6, 2016

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