DESIGN AND PERFORMANCE ANALYSIS OF AN EARTH TUBE HEAT EXCHANGER FOR A SMALL SCALE APPLICATION
MUSHTAQ PATEL *
Department of Mechanical Engineering, Mahakal Institute of Technology and Management, Ujjain, India.
SAJID QURESHI
Department of Mechanical Engineering, Mahakal Institute of Technology and Management, Ujjain, India.
S. R. MADAN
Department of Mechanical Engineering, Mahakal Institute of Technology and Management, Ujjain, India.
S. C. SOLANKI
Department of Mechanical Engineering, Ujjain Engineering College, Ujjain, India.
*Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.
Abstract
The aim of this research work is to design and construct earth-tube cooling system for a selected space in order to put forward the application of non-conventional energy sources. The design will be evaluated in term of cooling rate, for which various design parameters will be taken in accounts e.g. tube length, tube diameter, soil properties, tube depth etc. In this research work numbers of readings are taken to obtain the optimal mass flow rate of air for maximum cooling rate. Cooling tests were carried out in three consecutive days in a month and three sessions in a day. On each session system was operated for 2 hours during the day and shut down for the night. Based on the results it can be stated that Earth-Tube system holds considerable promise as a means to cool or heat ambient air for a variety of applications such as the livestock buildings and greenhouses.
Keywords: Earth tube heat exchanger, geothermal energy, cooling rate, mass flow rate