CFD analysis based parametric study of derating factor for Earth Air Tunnel Heat Exchanger

Thermal performance of Earth Air Tunnel Heat Exchanger (EATHE) under transient operating conditions has been evaluated for predominantly hot and dry climate of Ajmer (India) using experimental and Computational Fluid Dynamics modeling. Effects of time duration of continuous operation, thermal conductivity of soil pipe diameter and flow velocity on thermal performance of EATHE under transient conditions have been analyzed. Results show that the transient thermal performance of EATHE is significantly dependent on thermal conductivity of the soil and duration of its continuous operation. The analyzed cases have shown the range of derating to be as minimal as 0% to as high as 64%, which if ignored while designing may lead to poor performance of EATHE. Study reveals that the effect of pipe diameter due to prolonged use of EATHE system on its thermal performance is least in case of soil with higher value of thermal conductivity. Results show that the increase in flow velocity leads to deterioration in thermal performance of EATHE system. Under steady state condition, drop of 18.8 °C in air temperature is obtained, whereas, under transient conditions cooling of air reduces from 18.7 °C to 16.6 °C for soil thermal conductivity of 0.52 W m−1 K−1, after 24 h of continuous operation.

► 3-D Transient CFD analysis of Earth Air Tunnel Heat Exchanger has been done.
► Transient effect of soil thermal conductivity on thermal performance of EATHE has been carried out.
► Parametric study of derating factor for Earth Air Tunnel Heat Exchanger has been done.
► Prediction of transient temperature fields of the air and soil.