Evaluating Thermal Performance and Energy Conservation Potential of Hybrid Earth Air Tunnel Heat Exchanger in Hot and Dry Climate—In Situ Measurement

Abstract

Earth air tunnel heat exchanger is a passive cooling device with advantageous feature to reduce energy consumption in buildings. Curtailing the electricity consumption of conventional vapor compression system based air-conditioner is a major concern especially in area with hot and dry weather conditions. The performance of conventional air-conditioners can substantially be enhanced by coupling these active cooling systems with passive cooling systems. In the present research, the thermal performance and energy conservation potential of hybrid cooling system has been investigated experimentally. An attempt has been made to enhance the thermal performance of active cooling system by coupling it with earth air tunnel heat exchanger (EATHE) in two different hybrid modes. The air which comes out of EATHE is relatively cooler than the ambient air and therefore can be used either for cooling the condenser tubes of a conventional window type air-conditioner or supplying it directly to the room being conditioned. The energy consumption of conventional 1.5TR window type air conditioner is found to be reduced by 16.11% when cold air from EATHE is completely used for condenser cooling.