Abstract
Earth-to-air heat exchangers (EAHEs) can be used in the ventilation systems of various types of buildings. Multipipe structures can be found in large-volume buildings, yet scientific analysis of such systems is rare. Annual energy gains and electricity consumption for equivalent single-pipe and multipipe systems are typically not available. This paper bridges this gap, presenting the results of experimental studies on pressure losses in three-, five- and seven-pipe EAHEs and analysis for the annual energy gains and electric energy consumption as compared to a single-pipe exchanger. The results showed that the multipipe EAHE can be successfully replaced by a single-pipe structure with the same thermal performance and similar pressure losses if a tube with the appropriate diameter is used. However, multipipe heat exchangers can also use pipes of larger diameter (manifolds and/or branches), which improves their energy efficiency and may then make them more advantageous than single-pipe structures. From this reason, ultimately, the final selection of exchanger geometry should take into account economic and environmental issues and also user preferences and their importance in the hierarchy.
Highlights
This study belongs to the category of energy efficiency improvement, which is currently one of the world’s priorities
The results of the annual energy consumption for the fan drive differed from the results presented in Section 3.3, in which only the pressure losses were compared with simplified assumptions of Earth-to-air heat exchangers (EAHEs) operation during the year
Multipipe EAHEs could be replaced by single-pipe structures of with greater diameter with similar energy performance and electricity consumption during the year;
Summary
This study belongs to the category of energy efficiency improvement, which is currently one of the world’s priorities. More stringent legal requirements regarding the thermal insulation of building partitions are being introduced. This procedure is easy to perform and brings the most significant reduction in energy consumption by buildings. Requirements are being introduced to reduce the demand for nonrenewable primary energy (i.e., energy that comes from the processing of fossil fuels). This promotes the use of renewable energy sources (RESs). The application of energy-efficient HVAC and DHW systems and the use of RESs help in achieving the limit value of the PE (primary energy input coefficient)
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