EXPERIMENTAL AND NUMERICAL ANALYSIS OF SOIL-TO-AIR HEAT EXCHANGER SYSTEM FOR DOMESTIC BUILDINGS

Soil-to-air heat exchanger concept is one of the efficient methods to reduce the cooling effort required for any air conditioning system. In this paper, a theoretical model of soil-to-air heat exchanger has been developed to predict the air temperature in the outlet of the system during a hot atmospheric condition. This theoretical model is used to predict the sub-soil temperature for a specific ambient condition in a southern part of India and also compared with the measured sub-soil temperature. Performance of the soil-to-air heat exchanger system has been calculated during peak hours in summer and found to have the potential to reduce the energy required to cool the building.