Experimental and analytical studies of earth–air heat exchanger (EAHE) systems in India: A review

This is the property of earth that at a depth of about 1.5 to 2m, the temperature of ground remains almost constant throughout the year. This constant temperature is called earth’s undisturbed temperature which remains higher than surface temperature of earth in winter season and vice versa in summer. For effective utilization of heat capacity of earth, the earth–air heat exchanger (EAHE) has to be designed. The EAHEs are considered as an effective passive heating/cooling medium for buildings. This is basically a series of metallic, plastic or concrete pipes buried underground at a particular depth through which the fresh atmospheric air flows and gets heated in winter and supplied to the building if at sufficiently high temperature and vice versa in summer. Till date many researchers have carried out a number of studies in designing, modeling and testing of EAHEs systems. This paper reviews on the experimental and analytical studies of EAHE systems around the world but the studies are mainly focused on EAHE systems at the Indian universities as of the end June, 2012.