Energy Efficient Air Conditioning System Using Geothermal Cooling-Solar Heating in Gujarat, India
It is well known that one unit of electrical energy saved is equal to more than two units produced. One way of economizing the power is utilization of energy efficient systems at all locations. In the present study, the air conditioning system is analysed and an innovative way is suggested. We use natural low temperature of shallow sub surface (1 - 3 m) of the earth—geothermal cooling system. It is known that majority of the households and the apartment complexes in India have two tanks for water storage. One is the underground water sump and the other is the overhead water tank. In our study, we use these two water storage systems for space cooling during summer and also for heating during winter. The main aim of our paper is air-conditioning of the space in an economic way to save electricity. It is based on a simple idea of transferring the low temperature from underground water sump to the room in the house using water as a mode of transport. Since India is a tropical country located at low latitude, most of the year, the air temperature is high and demands space cooling. However, for a couple of months during severe winter months (Dec.-Jan.) at Ahmedabad, heating of the space is required. For heating the space, we suggest to use the well-known solar water heater. Effective use of heat exchanger is shown through computation, modelling schemes and lab experiment. We recommend geothermal cooling for 10 months in a year and solar hot water system during 2 months of winter. It is observed that the ambient air temperature of 35°C - 40°C in the room can be brought down to 26°C without much consumption of electricity. In a similar manner, the room temperature at night (13°C) during winter in Ahmedabad can be increased to 27°C through circulation of water from solar water heater in the heat exchanger.
Modeling and parametric studies for thermal performance of an earth to air heat exchanger integrated with a greenhouse
Abstract A thermal model has been developed to investigate the potential of using the stored thermal energy of the ground for greenhouse heating and cooling with the help of an earth to air heat exchanger (EAHE) system integrated with the greenhouse located in the premises of IIT, Delhi, India. Experiments were conducted extensively throughout the year 2003, but the developed model was validated against typical clear and sunny days experiments. Parametric studies performed for the EAHE coupled with the greenhouse illustrate the effects of buried pipe length, pipe diameter, mass flow rate of air, depth of ground and types of soil on the greenhouse air temperatures. The temperatures of the greenhouse air, with the experimental parameters of the EAHE, were found to be, on average 7–8 °C higher in the winter and 5–6 °C lower in the summer than those of the same greenhouse without the EAHE. The greenhouse air temperatures increase in the winter and decrease in the summer with increasing pipe length, decreasing pipe diameter, decreasing mass flow rate of flowing air inside buried pipe and increasing depth of ground up to 4 m. The predicted and measured values of the greenhouse air temperatures that were verified, in terms of root mean square percent deviation and correlation coefficient, exhibited fair agreement.
Compressive and flexural properties of hemp fiber reinforced concrete
The compressive and flexural properties of hemp fiber reinforced concretes (FRC) were examined in this paper. Natural hemp fiber was mixed using dry and wet mixing methods to fabricate the FRC. Mechanical properties of the FRC were investigated. The main factors affecting compressive and flexural properties of the FRC materials were evaluated with an orthogonal test design. Fiber content by weight has the largest effect. The method for casting hemp FRC has been optimised. Under the optimum conditions, compressive strength increased by 4 %, flexural strength increased by 9 %, flexural toughness increased by 144 %, and flexural toughness index increased by 214 %.