Renewable Energy 146 (2020) 2070e2083

Contents lists available at ScienceDirect

Renewable Energy
journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/renene

To study the effect of different parameters on the thermal

performance of ground-air heat exchanger system: In situ
measurement
Kamal Kumar Agrawal a, *, Rohit Misra b, Ghanshyam Das Agrawal a
a
Mechanical Engineering Department, Malaviya National Institute of Technology, Jaipur, India
b
Mechanical Engineering Departments, Government Engineering College, Ajmer, India

a r t i c l e i n f o a b s t r a c t

Article history: In the present experimental work, two identical real field experimental setups (with dry soil and wet
Received 15 May 2019 soil) of ground-air heat exchanger (GAHE) have been developed in order to evaluate the influence of
Received in revised form change in inlet air temperature, airflow velocity, diameter of pipe and soil moisture content on the
24 July 2019
thermal performance of GAHE system. Influence of these parameters on the required pipe length to
Accepted 12 August 2019
Available online 13 August 2019
produce a specified drop in air temperature has also been investigated. Results reveal that the drop in air
temperature achieved from GAHE having dry soil is 11.2
C at 60 m pipe length, whereas, for GAHE with
wet soil having 20% moisture, the same amount of drop in air temperature is obtained at a pipe length of
Keywords:
Ground air heat exchanger
28 m only. Moreover, upon increasing the airflow velocity from 2 m/s to 10 m/s, cooling capacity of
Sub-soil water trickling system GAHE with dry soil, wet soil with 5% moisture and wet soil with 20% moisture increases by 122%, 185%
Soil moisture content and 220%, respectively, after 6 h of operation, but the effectiveness of the GAHE system with dry soil, wet
Pipe length soil with 5% moisture and wet soil with 20% moisture decreases by 55.4%, 42.5% and 36.2%, respectively.
Cooling capacity © 2019 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
Effectiveness

1. Introduction
Energy plays a vital role in the economic growth of any country.
Due to the growing population and economic development, energy
consumption is increasing rapidly all over the world. Most of the
energy sources are fossil fuel based and therefore, the emission of
greenhouse gases is increasing at an alarming rate. Besides, re-
serves of fossil fuels are limited and will not be enough to cater to
future global energy demands. Thus, there is a need to use energy
efficiently to reduce environmental pollution and lead to sustain-
able development.
The building sector is one of the major sectors that consume
energy; it consumes about 35% of the total energy consumption.
The refrigeration and air conditioning systems consume about 15%
Abbreviations: BHE, Borehole Heat Exchanger; BFM, Back Filling Material; COP,
Coefficient of Performance; EAHE, Earth Air Heat Exchanger; EAPHE, Earth Air Pipe
Heat Exchanger; GAHE, Ground-Air Heat Exchanger; GHE, Ground Heat Exchanger;
GSHP, Ground Source Heat Pump; HVAC, Heating Ventilation and Air Conditioning;
PVC, PolyVinyl Chloride; RTD, Resistance Temperature Detectors; SWTS, Sub-Soil
Water Trickling System; VWC, Volumetric Water Content.
* Corresponding author.
E-mail address: kamal.rightway@gmail.com (K.K. Agrawal).
of the total electricity consumed all over the world [1]. Due to an
increase in per capita income and living standards, the use of air
conditioning systems is increasing rapidly. It is expected that the
number of air conditioning systems (AC's) will increase from 1.6
billion to 5.6 billion by 2050, which will increase the power
requirement for AC's almost three times [2]. There are various is-
sues in using conventional heating ventilation and air conditioning
(HVAC) system viz. its power consumption is high, its use increases
the peak load, it is harmful to the environment (ozone depletion
and global warming), and it reduces the indoor air quality also [3,4].
Apart from this, it also increases the average cost of electricity
because additional captive power plants are needed to meet the
peak demand of electricity. Thus, all these issues with conventional
HVAC system lead to a significant impetus to the exploration of
energy-efficient and environmental friendly systems for building
heating/cooling.
HVAC systems based on geothermal energy have received sig-
nificant attention during the past few decades. Geothermal energy
just under our feet's can be used effectively for building cooling/
heating [5,6]. At about 4 m depth, below the ground surface, the soil
temperature remains almost constant throughout the year, and it is
equal to the mean annual ambient temperature at that location.

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.renene.2019.08.065
0960-1481/© 2019 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
 K.K. Agrawal et al. / Renewable Energy 146 (2020) 2070e2083
This constant temperature of underground soil is much higher in
winter and lesser in summer compared to the ambient temperature
[7,8]. Therefore, soil can be used as a heat sink in summer and as a
heat source in winter.
In ground-air heat exchanger (GAHE) system, ambient air is
made to flow through buried pipes employing a blower. During its
course of flow through these pipes, air exchanges heat with the
surrounding soil and get heated up or cooled down depending on
ambient conditions [9,10]. The conditioned air, so obtained from
GAHE system can further be used for cooling/heating in summer/
winter season, respectively, as shown in Fig. 1.
Ground air heat exchanger (GAHE) system is an energy-efficient,
environmental friendly technique for building heating and cooling
applications, but its initial investment is high due to the require-
ment of longer pipes and higher excavation cost involved. Cost of
excavating the trench covers almost 25e30% of the total cost of
setting up a GAHE system [11,12]. Hence, looking to the economic
viability of a GAHE system, it is imperative to reduce the trench and
pipe lengths involved.
It is obvious that the rate at which heat transfer between air and
the surrounding soil takes place largely depends on soil thermal
properties. Length of the pipe required in the making of any GAHE
system can be reduced significantly by improving the soil thermal
conductivity usually in the close vicinity of pipe surface [12].
Moreover, this reduction in pipe length also reduced the excavation
cost as the required length of pipe governs the volume of soil to be
excavated. Length of pipe required for achieving the desired tem-
perature drop/rise also depends on the duration of operation, inlet
air temperature, airflow velocity and pipe diameter etc.
Thermal conductivity of soil in the close vicinity of pipe can be
improved by increasing the moisture content of soil or by using a
soil (other than native soil) having high thermal conductivity as
backfilling material (BFM). Sodha et al. [13] investigated the effect
of different treatments of the ground surface on the thermal per-
formance of EAHE and reported that relatively shorter tunnel is
required in the wet shaded surface compared to the dry sunlit
surface for meeting the cooling load requirements. To reduce the
cost of installation, Hsu et al. [14] installed an EAHE system with
water-filled raft foundation to curtail excavation cost and take
advantage of stable temperature & moisture of soil of raft foun-
dation of the building. The study revealed that the performance of
EAHE system integrated with a raft foundation is equivalent to
conventional (soil-based) EAHE system with pipe depth 2 m or
more.
Morshed et al. [15] compared the performance of two EAHE
setups (one in dry soil and another in artificially wet soil) installed
Fig. 1. GAHE system for (a) summer cooling and (b) winter heating.
2071
in the semi-desert climate of Basra Province (Iraq). In the wet
system, a dripping pipe was placed 0.1 m above the air pipe for
wetting the soil around the air-pipe. The study revealed that the
average COP of the wet system was higher (6.41) than that of a dry
system (5.07). Lin et al. [16] evaluated the effect of soil moisture on
the long-term energy performance of an EAHE system and esti-
mated the thermal properties of three different soil layers of the
EAHE-site. It was observed that the performance of saturated soil
increased up to 40% compared to dry soil. Liu et al. [17] studied
combined heat and moisture transfer in the soil at the vicinity of
EAHE system by using finite volume method, and higher thermal
performance of EAHE system was noticed.
Cuny et al. [18] investigated the effect of the event of rainfall on
the thermal performance of earth air heat exchanger (EAHE) using a
laboratory-scale rain simulator and pointed out that an event of
rainfall, at least for 3 h, might result into a marginal increase in
performance (2%e4%) of EAHE system. However, Soni et al. [19]
noticed that due to wet soil, the performance of EAHE is better in
rainy season as compared to the summer season. Addition of
moisture at the closed vicinity of ground heat exchanger (GHE)
pipe, increases its thermal performance, but moisture migrates
with time. Therefore, Plattes et al. [20,21] used a polyethylene
membrane to envelope GHE pipe and water-saturated quartz sand
to preserve soil moisture at closed vicinity of GHE pipe and
observed that the efficiency of HGCHE system with polyethylene
membrane was 150% higher than that without polyethylene
membrane.
Soil thermal properties may also be improved by adding certain
additives like bentonite, quartz and metal particles. These materials
may either be mixed with the soil/sand in appropriate proportion
or used as a standalone layer of predetermined thickness, all
around the pipe, up to a certain length and the rest volume may be
backfilled with native soil.
Omer [22] found that in a borehole heat exchanger (BHE), use of
sand-bentonite (bentonite 10e12% by weight) backfilling material
increased the heat extraction and injection rate by 22.2% and 31.1%,
respectively, compared to a normal sand-clay material. Cuny et al.
[23] considered three different types of coating soils (viz. in-situ
earth, sand and a mixture of sand-bentonite) for different sec-
tions of the buried EAHE pipe and it was noticed that the perfor-
mance of EAHE system with the sand-bentonite coating was
highest.
Based on constructal design strategies, Brum et al. [24] inves-
tigated various geometrical configurations for multi-pipe EAHE
system and observed that the thermal performance of EAHE system
can be improved by increasing the number of ducts strategically
2072 K.K. Agrawal et al. / Renewable Energy 146 (2020) 2070e2083
and reducing their diameters. Moreover, the ratio between their
vertical and horizontal spacing must be reduced to some extent. Liu
et al. [25] established a new EAHE system with vertically buried
tubes in Hunan, China and compared its performance with the
conventional horizontal EAHE system. It was found that the vertical
EAHE system has high geothermal energy utilisation efficiency and
ease of condensate water discharge. Moreover, vertical EAHE re-
quires less land area as compared to horizontal EAHE system.
In a parametric study, Rosa et al. [26] observed that the drop in
air temperature in EAHE system is directly proportional to soil
thermal conductivity and length of pipe, but inversely proportional
to the airflow velocity and pipe diameter. Rouag et al. [27] noticed
that the soil-cylinder radius (thickness of soil around the EAHE
pipe) depends on the duration of operation, thermal diffusivity of
soil, inlet air temperature and pipe diameter. Later on by consid-
ering all these parameters, Mehdid et al. [28] developed a new
semi-analytical model, called Generalized RBM model (GRBM
model) to predict the thermal performance of EAHE operating
under transient conditions for cooling mode. Elminshawy et al. [29]
developed a small scale laboratory setup and carried out a para-
metric study with different soil compaction levels and noticed that
by increasing the inlet air temperature from 40 to 55
C, the cooling
capacity of EAPHE system increased by 227%.
Niu et al. [30] developed a one-dimensional steady-state control
volume model for parametric study and found that the drop in air
temperature achieved increases with an increase in inlet air tem-
perature. In a numerical parametric study, Ahmed et al. [31]
considered four airflow velocities i.e. 0.41 m/s, 1.0 m/s, 1.5 m/s and
2.0 m/s to examine the influence of airflow velocity on thermal
performance of EAHE system and reported that the air velocity of
1.5 m/s provided the better cooling performance. Mihalakakou
et al. [32] observed that by reducing the diameter of EAHE pipe
from 0.5 m to 0.25 m, the drop in air temperature increases from 1.5
to 2.5
C for summer cooling operation. Ghosal and Tiwari [33] also
observed that drop in air temperature could be increased by
reducing the diameter of the pipe.
Discussion on various studies carried out by various researchers
reveals that the researchers have tried to address the problem of
long pipe requirement and large excavation cost involved with the
EAHE systems and came out with some useful suggestions and
performance improvement methods. However, authors feel that
still, a scope of reducing the required length of pipe and excavation
cost lies with the idea of improving soil moisture content at the
vicinity of buried pipe. Along with this, the required length of pipe
for providing sufficient temperature drop/rise also depends on inlet
air temperature, airflow velocity and pipe diameter.
It has been noticed that the thermal performance of GAHE
system depends on soil moisture, pipe diameter, inlet air temper-
ature, inlet air velocity and duration of the operation. Therefore, it is
vital to optimising these parameters to properly address the issues
related to the thermal performance of GAHE system. The objective
of the present experimental study is to investigate the effect of soil
moisture content and different operating parameters (i.e. inlet air
temperature, airflow rate and diameter of the pipe) on the perfor-
mance of GAHE system.
Unlike the previous articles [34,35], which considered only
single pipe diameter and inlet air velocity to analyse the influence
of soil moisture content on thermal performance of GAHE system,
the present study focuses on analysing the influence of these pa-
rameters along with soil moisture contents on the thermal per-
formance of GAHE system.
2. Description of the experimental setup
In the present study, authors have extended their earlier works
by carried out on determining the impact of soil moisture contents,
diameter of pipes, inlet air velocity and inlet air temperature on the
thermal performance of GAHE system. To achieve the goals of the
present study, the experimental setup developed earlier has been
used whose details were discussed in the previous studies [34,35].
Two identical and parallel trenches of a dimension of
30 m  1.5 m x 3.7 m were excavated (one for dry GAHE system and
other for wet GAHE system). In each trench, three PVC pipes of
diameter 0.050 m, 0.075 m and 0.1 m were laid in U-shape (each
pipe is 61.5 m long). To avoid the thermal interaction between pipes
of GAHE, the minimum spacing between the pipes was kept 50 mm.
It is important to mention that at a particular time; the air was
made to flow through only one pipe with the help of flow control
valve (by keeping open flow control valve of one pipe and closed for
other two pipes). For wet GAHE system, a sub-soil water trickling
system (SWTS) was incorporated to keep the soil in the moist state
as and when required.
To measure the temperature of air along the length of pipe, eight
RTD sensors (Dt1 to Dt8 for dry GAHE and Wt1 to Wt8 for wet GAHE)
were mounted in each pipe at 0 m, 5 m, 10 m, 20 m, 30 m, 40 m,
50 m and 60 m length from the upstream end of trench as shown in
Fig. 2.
To keep the soil moist in the wet-GAHE system, a sub-soil water
trickling system (SWTS) was incorporated. For that perforated PVC
conduit pipes of 25 mm diameter were installed parallel to the air
pipes of wet GAHE system up to the 30 m length. For distributing
the water properly in radial and longitudinal directions, 30 four-
way connectors were employed at an interval of 1 m length, and
15 vertical pipes (each at an interval of 2 m) were connected with
perforated conduit pipes to supply water as depicted in Fig. 3(a). In
case of failure of this arrangement, provision of second water
trickling system (perforated pipe of 50 mm diameter) was also in-
tegrated as a stand-by SWTS (Fig. 3(b)). Moreover, eight pipes of
100 mm diameter were also installed vertically at equal intervals to
measure soil moisture contents at 3.7 m depth, as shown in
Fig. 3(b).
Once, both the SWTS were tested for their proper functioning;
vertical air pipes were connected at the inlet and outlet section of
U-shape horizontal GAHE pipes in each trench (as shown in Fig. 4).
Inlets of all vertical air pipes were connected to a common header.
The header was further connected to an air heater and a centrifugal
blower (as shown in Fig. 5) for supplying hot air into the pipes. After
that, all the temperature sensors were connected to a data logger
and tested for their proper functioning. Having done that, both
trenches were backfilled with native soil up to the top.
3. Instrumentation used
A centrifugal blower (Make-Captain, capacity-746 W, speed:
2800 rpm, maximum discharge: 0.0945 m3/sec) was used to flow
the air through PVC pipes, and its speed was regulated by means of
a variac (Servocon make, input: 240 V, output: 0e270 V, resolution:
1 V). An electric heating coil of 1500 W was fitted inside a sheet
metal box to heat-up the air before it approaches the inlet of PVC
pipes. A variac was used to regulate the voltage being supplied to
the heating coil to control the temperature of the air at the inlet. To
measure and record various temperature values, temperature
sensors were connected to a data logger (Agilent make, model-
34972 A) and the airflow velocity through air pipes was measured
with the help of a vane probe-type anemometer make- Lutron,
(Lutron make, model-AM-4201, range- 0.4e30.0 m/s and Resolu-
tion: 0.1 m/s). To measure the moisture content of the soil in wet
GAHE system, a digital soil moisture meter (make-Turoni, model:
46908-TR-15, moisture measuring range: 0e100%, resolution: 0.1%,
moisture probe: stainless steel of 6 mm diameter and 0.5 m length)
 K.K. Agrawal et al. / Renewable Energy 146 (2020) 2070e2083 2073

Fig. 2. Schematic of GAHE systems with the position of temperature sensors.

was used. For this, probe of soil moisture sensor was attached at
one end of a steel pipe (4 m long, 0.025 m diameter) and this pipe
inserted in 0.1 m diameter PVC pipe and measured the moisture of
soil at a depth of 3.7 m.

4. Experimental methodology and measurement

To achieve the objectives, the research methodology is pre-

sented in Fig. 6 and discussed below:
In the present study, the effect of the following parameters on
the performance of GAHE system has been investigated
experimentally.

(a) Soil moisture content,

Fig. 3. Sub-soil water trickling systems (SWTS). (b) Airflow velocity
(a) First water trickling system. (c) Inlet air temperature, and
(b) Standby water trickling system. (d) Diameter of pipe

Fig. 4. Inlet and outlet sections of wet and dry GAHE system.
2074 K.K. Agrawal et al. / Renewable Energy 146 (2020) 2070e2083

Fig. 5. Experimental setup of wet and dry GAHE systems.

Fig. 6. Research methodology for the present study.

While determining the effect of each parameter on the thermal
performance of GAHE system, four cases have been considered as
mentioned in Table 1. For different cases, one of the parameter
mentioned above has been systematically varied in each case,
termed as a variable parameter, while remaining parameters have
been fixed, termed as fixed parameters. Experimentation was car-
ried out in the month of March-2018.
Temperature of air along the length of pipe at different sections,
described earlier, was measured and logged. To measure the air
temperature at different locations in the GAHE pipes, the time
interval was initially set to 15 min, but a significant variation in air
temperature was not observed with an interval of 15 min. Signifi-
cant variation in air temperature could be observed precisely after
an interval of 1 h or so. Therefore, the data resolution for the pre-
sent study was considered to be 1 h. Measurement of air temper-
ature was done on an hourly basis, which includes the temperature
of the air at the inlet & outlet of GAHE pipe and temperature of air
along the length of pipe at six different locations. GAHE system was
operated for 6 h (7 a.m.e1 p.m.), and after that, the soil was allowed
to undergo a natural regeneration during the next 18 h. This

Table 1
Parameters considered for performance analysis.

S. No. Variable Parameter Fixed Parameters

Case 1 Soil moisture content: 0% (dry soil), 5%, and 20% Inlet air temperature of 42
C, airflow velocity of 5 m/s, diameter of pipe 100 mm
Case 2 Air flow velocity: 2 m/s, 5 m/s, 8 m/s, and 10 m/s Inlet air temperature of 42
C, diameter of pipe 100 mm
Case 3 Inlet air temperature: 38
C, 42
C and 46
C Airflow velocity of 5 m/s, diameter of pipe 100 mm
Case 4 Diameter of pipe: 50 mm, 75 mm, and 100 mm Inlet air temperature of 42
C, airflow velocity of 5 m/s
 K.K. Agrawal et al. / Renewable Energy 146 (2020) 2070e2083 2075

strategy helps in bringing the soil back to its initial bulk tempera- capacity have been found as ±0.52% and ±0.56% respectively.
ture before the start of experimentation on the next day. Experi-
mentation was carried out during the months of March, but to 5. Results and discussions
avoid the repetition of measured data, only one data set of each
case is being presented. Impact of different parameters mentioned above, on the ther-
mal performance of GAHE system, is primarily evaluated in terms of
4.1. Uncertainty analysis the drop in air temperature along the length of the pipe. Moreover,
the impact of these parameters on cooling capacity and effective-
In the present study, the uncertainties in experimentation are ness of the system is also evaluated. Influence of these parameters
assessed, and the uncertainty in the measurement of a parameter is on the performance of GAHE is determined for initial 30 m pipe
equal to the ratio of least count of the measuring device and min- length as the soil is kept in wet state only up to a section of 30 m
imum measured value of that particular parameter during experi- from the inlet in wet GAHE system.
mentation [41]. In the present study, the minimum measured
values of air velocity, temperature and volumetric water content of 5.1. Effect of soil moisture
soil are 2 m/s, 27
C and 5% respectively, and the least count of the
instruments are 0.1 m/s, 0.1
C and 0.1% for velocity, temperature The performance of GAHE system depends significantly on the
and volumetric water content of soil, respectively. Thus, the thermal conductivity of the soil. Soil thermal conductivity may be
maximum error in the measurement of air velocity, temperature improved by improving the moisture content of the soil [12]. Before
and volumetric water content of the soil is assessed as ±5%, ±0.37% deciding the percentage of moisture content to be maintained in
and ±2%, respectively. However, the uncertainty for effectiveness is the soil in the close vicinity of GAHE pipe, several soil samples with
measured as different moisture percentage (i.e. volumetric water content) were
" 2  2 #0:5 prepared and tested for their thermal conductivity, specific heat
dε dT dT and thermal diffusivity. Soil samples were tested with the help of
¼ þ (1)
ε T T an apparatus ‘Hot-Disc TPS-500 Thermal Constant analyzer’ as
shown in Fig. 7 (a). For the reliability of results, soil thermal con-
While the uncertainty in cooling capacity is measured as ductivity of soil with different moisture contents was also tested by
" using the ‘Decagon KD2 Pro’ apparatus, as shown in Fig. 7(b). Re-
2  2  2 #0:5
dQ dm_ dcp dT sults of the experimental test carried out on different soil samples
¼ þ þ (2)
Q m_ cp T with different soil moisture contents (varying from 5% to 30% VWC)
are shown in Fig. 8.
The maximum percentage errors for effectiveness and cooling From Fig. 8(a), it is noticed that upon increasing the soil

Fig. 7. Determining the thermal properties of soil.

(a) TPS-500 apparatus.
(b) KD2-Pro apparatus.

Fig. 8. Variation in soil thermal properties with moisture contents.

2076 K.K. Agrawal et al. / Renewable Energy 146 (2020) 2070e2083

moisture content from 0 to 20%, thermal conductivity increases
sharply and beyond 20% moisture content, increase in thermal
conductivity of soil with an increase in moisture content (20%e
30%) is not very much significant. (The voids in the soil are bridged
by thin water films, which consequently increases the contact area
between the soil particles, thus, improving the heat flow and
enhancing the thermal conductivity. After a certain limit of mois-
ture contents in soil, the soil thermal conductivity no longer in-
creases because the voids in the soil get completely filled).
However, the heat capacity is found to have linear variation with an
increase in soil moisture 0%e30%, as shown in Fig. 8(b). As per as
thermal diffusivity of the soil samples is concern, the same being
ratio of thermal conductivity (k) and heat capacity (i.e. volumetric
specific heat, r. Cp), keeps on increasing till 20% moisture level is
achieved and beyond that moisture level thermal diffusivity starts
decreasing as shown in Fig. 8(c). Hence, with the present soil
samples, maximum thermal diffusivity (a ¼ 0.87 mm2/s) takes
place at a soil moisture content of 20%. Therefore, the threshold
value of soil moisture content was taken to be 20%.
It has been reported in the literature that the moisture contents
of soil depend on its type (clay, silt, sand), season and level of water
table etc. [36]. Therefore, it is imperative to consider and analyses
the effect of soil moisture contents on the performance of GAHE
system.
In the present study, the effect of soil moisture contents has
been analysed by considering three different soil moisture levels
viz., 0%, 5% and 20% volumetric water contents. While evaluating
the effect of soil moisture contents, the airflow velocity, tempera-
ture of the air at the inlet and diameter of pipe were kept the same
as 5 m/s, 42
C and 100 mm respectively. Table 2 shows the varia-
tion of air temperature along the length of pipe for different soil
moisture contents (0%, 5% and 20%) at an airflow velocity of 5 m/s
and inlet air temperature of 42
C.
From Table 2, it is observed that a drop in air temperature at
30 m pipe length was 11.8
C, 10.9
C, 9.7
C & 8.8
C for dry soil,
12.6
C, 11.8
C, 11.3
C & 10.8
C for wet soil with 5% moisture and
12.8
C, 12.1
C, 12.0
C & 11.4
C for wet soil with 20% moisture at
the start (i.e. 0th hour), after 1 h, after 3 h and after 6 h of operation,
respectively. Results show that the drop in air temperature ob-
tained at 30 m pipe length reduces by 25.4%, 14.2% and 10.9%, after
6 h of operation for GAHE with dry soil, for GAHE with wet soil
having 5% moisture and 20% moisture, respectively, respectively, as
compared to the drop in air temperature obtained at the start of
GAHE (i.e. at 0th hour).
From Fig. 9, it is noticed that for airflow velocity of 5 m/s, after
1 h of continuous operation, drop in air temperature of 12.7
C is
obtained at the exit of pipe (i.e. 60 m length of pipe) for the dry soil.
However, the same drop in air temperature is obtained at a pipe
length of 52 m and 40 m for GAHE with wet soil having 5% moisture
and 20% moisture, respectively. Similarly, after 6 h of continuous
operation, a drop in air temperature obtained with dry soil is 11.2
C
at the exit of the pipe. However, the same drop in air temperature is
obtained at a pipe length of 38 m and 28 m only, for GAHE with wet
soil having 5% moisture and 20% moisture, respectively.
From above findings, it is concluded that almost 53% of the pipe
length can be reduced for GAHE with soil having 20% moisture for
achieving the same amount of drop in air temperature as compared
to GAHE with dry soil. GAHE with wet soil is able to produce a
relatively higher drop in air temperature at the same pipe length
since the addition of moisture into the soil helps in filling up the air
voids present among the soil particles and provides a path of
continuity for the propagation of heat.

Table 2
Variation of air temperature along the length of pipe for dry and wet soil at an inlet air temperature of 42
C, airflow velocity of 5 m/s and pipe diameter of 100 mm.

Length of pipe (m) Air temperature (
C)

Dry Soil Wet Soil (5% Moisture) Wet Soil (20% Moisture)

Initially After 1 h After 3 h After 6 h Initially After 1 h After 3 h After 6 h Initially After 1 h After 3 h After 6 h

0 42.0 42.0 42.0 42.0 42.0 42.0 42.0 42.0 42.0 42.0 42.0 42.0
5 37.5 37.9 38.3 38.6 36.1 36.8 37.2 37.5 35.4 36.1 37.0 37.3
10 34.9 35.5 36.3 36.8 33.3 34.1 34.9 35.5 32.4 33.2 34.4 34.9
20 31.3 32.3 33.8 34.6 30.3 31.4 32.0 32.6 30.0 30.9 31.1 31.8
30 30.2 31.1 32.3 33.2 29.4 30.2 30.7 31.2 29.2 29.6 30.0 30.6
40 29.6 30.3 31.2 32.2 29.0 29.4 29.8 30.6 28.8 29.2 29.4 29.8
50 28.7 29.5 30.4 31.3 28.6 29.2 29.6 30.2 28.4 29.1 29.3 29.7
60 28.3 29.3 29.9 30.8 28.2 29.1 29.4 30.0 28.1 29.0 29.2 29.6

Fig. 9. Variation of air temperature along the pipe length with dry soil and wet soil (a) after 1 h and (b) after 6 h of continuous operation.
 K.K. Agrawal et al. / Renewable Energy 146 (2020) 2070e2083 2077

Fig. 10. Hourly variation in thermal performance deterioration factor for GAHE having dry and wet soil.

Impact of soil moisture content on the performance of GAHE is
evaluated in terms of thermal performance deterioration factor
(TPDF). TPDF reveals the deterioration in thermal performance of
GAHE with time duration of the operation. In the present study,
TPDF is determined for the initial 30 m pipe length with the help of
the following equation
 
Ta;i  Ta;o at any time
TPDF ¼ 1   
Ta;i  Ta;o Initial
TPDF obtained for GAHE with different soil moisture contents
and after different hours of operation is presented in Fig. 10 and
from that, it is observed that the TPDF increases with time (dura-
tion of continuous operation). After 6 h of continuous operation,
TPDF is 0.25, 0.14 and 0.10 for GAHE with dry soil, GAHE with wet
soil having 5% moisture and 20% moisture, respectively. Thus, the
performance of GAHE system with dry soil decreases by 25% within
6 h of continuous operation, while, it decreases only by 14% and 10%
for GAHE with soil having 5% moisture and 20% moisture, respec-
tively. It is further noticed from Fig. 10, that the slope of the TPDF
line for GAHE with wet soils (having 5% and 20% moisture) is lesser
than that obtained for GAHE with dry soil. It clearly indicates that
the performance deterioration rate is relatively lower for GAHE
having wet soil as compared to dry soil.
As expected, the performance of GAHE system is found to be
best with 20% moisture content. The reason can be attributed to the
fact that with the increase in soil moisture content, the thermal
conductivity, as well as thermal diffusivity, keep on increasing and
thermal diffusivity is highest at 20% moisture content. Therefore,
the wet soil surrounding the GAHE pipe could diffuse the heat to
the nearby soil layer at a faster rate giving better overall perfor-
mance and lower value of TPDF.
5.2. Effect of airflow velocity
Heating/cooling capacity and effectiveness of GAHE system
(3) primarily depend on airflow rate, and therefore, it is essential to
consider the impact of airflow velocity while designing the GAHE
system [37,38]. In the present study, the effect of the change in
airflow velocity has been analysed by considering four different
airflow velocities i.e. 2 m/s, 5 m/s, 8 m/s and 10 m/s (for the
airflow velocity of 8 m/s and 10 m/s, a blower of 500 CFM was used).
While evaluating the effect of change in airflow velocity, the tem-
perature of the air at the inlet and diameter of pipe were kept
constant at 42
C and 100 mm, respectively. Table 3 shows the
variation of air temperature along the length of the pipe at different
airflow velocities after 6 h of continuous operation.
From Table 3, it is observed that after 6 h of continuous opera-
tion, total drop in air temperature at 30 m of pipe length was
12.5
C, 13.1
C and 13.6
C for GAHE with dry soil, wet soil having
5% moisture and 20% moisture, respectively, at airflow velocity of
2 m/s. Similarly, for airflow velocity of 5 m/s, drop in air tempera-
ture was 8.8
C, 10.8
C and 11.4
C for GAHE with dry soil, wet soil
having 5% moisture and 20% moisture, respectively. Similarly, for
airflow velocity of 8 m/s, drop in air temperature was 6.6
C, 8.5
C
and 9.7
C for GAHE with dry soil, wet soil with 5% moisture and
20% moisture, respectively. However, at an airflow velocity of 10 m/

Table 3
Variation of air temperature along the length of pipe at different airflow velocities after 6 h of operation and at an inlet air temperature of 42
C for pipe diameter of 100 mm.

Length of Air temperature (
C)

pipe (m)
Air Flow Velocity of 2 m/s Air Flow Velocity of 5 m/s Air Flow Velocity of 8 m/s Air Flow Velocity of 10 m/s

Dry Wet Soil (5% Wet Soil (20% Dry Wet Soil (5% Wet Soil (20% Dry Wet Soil (5% Wet Soil (20% Dry Wet Soil (5% Wet Soil (20%
Soil moisture) moisture) Soil moisture) moisture) Soil moisture) moisture) Soil moisture) moisture)

0 42.0 42.0 42.0 42.0 42.0 42.0 42.0 42.0 42.0 42.0 42.0 42.0
5 36.9 35.7 35.5 38.6 37.5 37.3 39.1 38.2 38.0 39.3 38.5 38.3
10 33.9 32.5 32.1 36.8 35.5 34.9 37.9 36.7 36.3 38.4 37.3 36.9
20 30.7 29.5 28.8 34.6 32.6 31.8 36.4 34.7 33.6 37.2 35.6 34.5
30 29.5 28.9 28.4 33.2 31.2 30.6 35.4 33.5 32.3 36.4 34.5 33.3
40 29.0 28.7 28.2 32.2 30.6 29.8 34.4 32.5 31.4 35.5 33.5 32.4
50 28.8 28.5 28.1 31.3 30.2 29.7 33.5 31.8 31.0 34.7 32.8 31.8
60 28.6 28.4 28.0 30.8 30.0 29.6 32.8 31.3 30.5 34.0 32.1 31.2
2078 K.K. Agrawal et al. / Renewable Energy 146 (2020) 2070e2083
s, drop in air temperature was 5.6
C, 7.5
C and 8.7
C for GAHE
with dry soil, wet soil with 5% moisture and 20% moisture,
respectively. It is obvious that as at airflow velocity increases, more
and more heat is pumped into the soil from GAHE pipe, which
causes the soil to undergo a drastic change in temperature from its
initial undisturbed value. However, the increase in soil moisture
content takes care of this detrimental effect of an increase in airflow
velocity by transferring the heat to the nearby soil layer and
maintaining its temperature which results into overall better per-
formance at higher soil moisture content.
On the basis of above findings, it is concluded that as the airflow
velocity increases from 2 m/s to 10 m/s, drop in air temperature
obtained after 6 h at 30 m pipe length reduces by 55.2%, 42.7%, and
36.0% for GAHE with dry soil, wet soil with 5% moisture and 20%
moisture, respectively.
From Table 3, it is observed that after 6 h of continuous opera-
tion, the highest drop in air temperature of 13.6
C was obtained at
airflow velocity of 2 m/s for GAHE having soil with 20% moisture.
Reason can be attributed to the fact that at low airflow velocity, the
residence time of the air in the pipe increases and hence, the drop
in air temperature obtained, also increases.
Moreover, from Fig. 11 it is observed that in dry soil, drop in air
temperature obtained was 8
C for airflow velocity of 10 m/s at exit
of pipe (at 60 m pipe length) and the same drop in air temperature
at airflow velocity of 2 m/s, 5 m/s and 8 m/s is obtained at 9.5 m,
24 m and 44 m pipe length, respectively. Similarly, in soil with 20%
moisture, drop in air temperature was 10.8
C at airflow velocity of
10 m/s at exit of pipe and the same amount of drop in air tem-
perature at airflow velocity of 2 m/s, 5 m/s and 8 m/s is obtained at
12 m, 23 m and 44 m pipe length, respectively.
From above findings, it is concluded that the pipe length
required to achieve a specified drop in air temperature from GAHE
system is about 80% lesser at airflow velocity of 2 m/s as compared
to that at 10 m/s.
Influence of airflow velocity on the cooling capacity of GAHE
system and its effectiveness has also been evaluated using the
following equations.
 
_ p Ta;i  Ta;o
Q ¼ mc
Fig. 11. Variation of air temperature along the pipe length at different airflow velocities.
(a) for dry soil and
(b) for wet soil with 20% moisture.
Actual temperature drop at any point of time
ε¼
Maximum posiible tempearture drop
Ta; i  Ta;o
¼ (5)
Ta;i  Tps; initial
From Fig. 12, it is noticed that as the airflow velocity increases
from 2 m/s to 10 m/s, the effectiveness of GAHE having dry soil,
wet soil with 5% moisture and wet soil with 20% moisture drop
from 0.83 to 0.37, 0.87 to 0.50 and 0.91 to 0.58, respectively, after
6 h of continuous operation. However, upon increasing the airflow
velocity from 2 m/s to 10 m/s, the cooling capacity of GAHE with
dry soil, wet soil with 5% moisture and wet soil with 20% moisture
increases from 236.3 W to 526.0 W, 248.0 We707.0 W and
257.5 We825.7 W, respectively. Thus, with an increase in flow ve-
locity, two counterbalancing effects arise. As flow velocity in-
creases, the retention time of air molecules inside the pipe reduces,
but at the same time, an increase in flow velocity improves the
convective heat transfer coefficient because of greater turbulence
levels. Due to the shorter stay period of air molecules in the pipe,
heat transfer decreases, but due to increased convective heat
transfer coefficient, the overall heat transfer increases.
It is concluded that as the airflow velocity is increased from 2 m/
s to 10 m/s, cooling capacity of GAHE system increases by 122%,
185% and 220%. However, the effectiveness of GAHE with dry soil,
wet soil with 5% moisture and wet soil with 20% moisture decreases
by 55.4%, 42.5% and 36.2%, respectively. Such behaviour of an in-
crease in cooling capacity and decrease in effectiveness of GAHE
upon increasing the airflow velocity can be explained as follows: as
per equation (3), the cooling capacity is a function of mass flow rate
and drop in air temperature obtained. Obviously, as flow velocity
increases, the mass flow rate of air also increases, but the drop in air
temperature obtained decreases due to the shorter time span of
stay of air molecules inside the pipe. Upon increasing the airflow
velocity from 2 m/s to 10 m/s, the mass flow rate increases from
0.0188 kg/s to 0.0942 kg/s, whereas, the drop in air temperature
reduces from 12.5
C to 5.6
C (in dry soil at 30 m of pipe length).
Therefore, an increase in airflow velocity from 2 m/s to 10 m/s, the
mass flow rate is increased by 401% while, the drop in air tem-
perature obtained reduces by 55.2% only. Thus, the relative incre-
(4)
ment in the mass flow rate of air is greater than the decrement
observed in drop in air temperature. Hence, the increase in mass
 K.K. Agrawal et al. / Renewable Energy 146 (2020) 2070e2083 2079

Fig. 12. Impact of airflow velocity on cooling capacity and effectiveness of GAHE system.

flow rate of air is much higher than decrease in drop in air tem-
perature. Thus, the overall effect is to improve cooling capacity. It is
similarly justified for effectiveness as mentioned in equation (5)
that with an increase in airflow velocity, drop in air temperature
reduces, which brings down the value of effectiveness.
5.3. Effect of inlet air temperature
It is obvious that a GAHE system put under the natural envi-
ronment in real field setup inhales the air at variable temperatures.
Due to diurnal variation in the ambient air temperature, the air
which is made to flow through GAHE pipe always possesses
different values of temperature at different point of time. As the hot
ambient air is made to flow through GAHE pipe, it cools off by
surrendering its heat to the surrounding soil, and the soil un-
dergoes a change in temperature in radial as well as axial direction
from its initial undisturbed value. Temperature of ambient air de-
pends on the season as well as the climatic condition of the
particular location [29,39]. Therefore, it is essential to consider the
impact of inlet air temperature in the designing of GAHE system.
In order to analyse the impact of inlet air temperature, air with
three different inlet temperature values of 38
C, 42
C and 46
C
has been considered, and the performance of GAHE system has
been determined. While analysing the effect of change in inlet air
temperature, pipe diameter and airflow velocity were kept con-
stant at 100 mm and 5 m/s, respectively. Table 4 shows the varia-
tion of air temperature along the length of pipe at different air inlet
temperatures after 6 h of continuous operation.
From Table 4, it is observed that after 6 h of continuous opera-
tion, total drop in air temperature at 30 m of pipe length at inlet air
temperature of 38
C, 42
C and 46
C was 6.3
C, 8.8
C & 11.3
C for
GAHE with dry soil, 7.6
C, 10.8
C & 13.8
C for GAHE with wet soil
having 5% moisture, and 8.3
C, 11.4
C & 14.8
C for GAHE with wet
soil having 20% moisture respectively. Based on these findings, it is
concluded that drop in air temperature along the GAHE is increased
by increasing the inlet air temperature and reason can be attributed
to the fact that the high-temperature difference between inlet air
temperature and soil surrounding the buried pipe.
Moreover, from Fig. 13, it is observed that for GAHE with dry soil,
drop in air temperature obtained was 7.7
C, 11.2
C and 14.7
C for
air inlet temperature of 38
C, 42
C and 46
C respectively at the
exit of pipe (at 60 m pipe length). However, the same drop in air
temperature for GAHE with wet soil having 20% moisture is ob-
tained at 19 m, 29 m and 28 m pipe length at an inlet air temper-
ature of 38
C, 42
Cand 46
C respectively.
From the above findings it is concluded that the pipe length
required to achieve a specified drop in air temperature from GAHE
system is reduced by 68.3%, 51.6% and 53.3% for GAHE with wet soil
having 20% moisture compared to GAHE with dry soil at an inlet air
temperature of 38
C, 42
C and 46
C respectively. It is understood
that as the temperature of the air at the inlet of GAHE increases, the
amount of heat transfer from air to soil also increases, which cause
to detrimental effect as per as thermal performance of GAHE con-
cerned. However, the ill effect of increasing in air temperature on
the thermal performance of GAHE system can be taken care of by
keeping the soil in wet condition as the wet soil have higher

Table 4
Variation of air temperature along the length of pipe for the different inlet air temperature at airflow velocity of 5 m/s for pipe diameter of 100 mm.

Length of Pipe Air Temperature (
C)

(m)
Inlet Air Temperature 38
C Inlet Air Temperature 42
C Inlet Air Temperature 46
C

Dry Wet Soil (5% Wet Soil (20% Dry Wet Soil (5% Wet Soil (20% Dry Wet Soil (5% Wet Soil (20%
Soil moisture) moisture) Soil moisture) moisture) Soil moisture) moisture)

0 38.0 38.0 38.0 42.0 42.0 42.0 46.0 46.0 46.0

5 35.2 34.4 34.2 38.6 37.5 37.3 41.9 40.7 40.4
10 34.0 32.9 32.5 36.8 35.5 34.9 39.7 38.0 37.4
20 32.5 31.2 30.3 34.6 32.6 31.8 36.7 34.4 33.2
30 31.7 30.4 29.9 33.2 31.2 30.6 34.7 32.2 31.0
40 31.0 30.0 29.4 32.2 30.6 29.8 33.1 31.2 30.3
50 30.5 29.9 29.2 31.3 30.2 29.7 32.0 30.6 30.0
60 30.3 29.8 29.1 30.8 30.0 29.6 31.3 30.2 29.9
2080 K.K. Agrawal et al. / Renewable Energy 146 (2020) 2070e2083
thermal diffusivity and allow the diffusion of heat at a much faster
rate, which is ultimately reflected in terms of lower temperature of
soil surrounding the GAHE pipe even at higher inlet air
temperature.
From Fig. 13, it is further noticed that after 6 h of continuous
operation, the temperature of air is not same, even at the exit of
pipe (i.e. 60 m length); which reveals that the inlet air temperature
significantly affects the rate of heat transfer between air and soil.
Thus, at higher inlet air temperatures, the difference between the
temperature of soil and air increases, which results in greater heat
transfer and more drop in air temperature. Hence, in the peak
summer season, GAHE system will be able to give a relatively better
thermal performance.
The Impact of inlet air temperature on cooling capacity and
effectiveness of the system also evaluated. From Fig. 14, it is
observed that as the inlet air temperature increases from 38
C to
46
C the effectiveness of GAHE system having dry soil, wet soil
with 5% moisture and wet soil with 20% moisture slightly increases
from 0.57 to 0.60, 0.69 to 0.73, and 0.75 to 0.78 respectively, after
6 h of continuous operation. However, upon increasing inlet air
temperature from 38
C to 46
C, the cooling capacity of GAHE
system with dry soil, wet soil with 5% moisture and wet soil with
20% moisture increases considerably from 299.3 W to 535.6 W,
359.6 We653.2 W, and 383.4 We710.0 W respectively.
It is noticed that as the temperature of inlet air is increased from
38
C to 46
C, the cooling capacity of GAHE system increases by
78.9%, 81.6% and 85.1% whereas the effectiveness of the GAHE
system increases only by 5.2%, 5.7% and 6.7% for GAHE with dry soil,
wet soil having 5% moisture and wet soil having 20% moisture
respectively.
5.4. Effect of pipe diameters
Thermal performance of GAHE system is deeply influenced by
pipe diameter [40]. Therefore, it is essential to consider the impact
of the diameter of pipe in the designing of GAHE system. In order to
analyse the impact of diameter of pipe, three different pipe di-
ameters 50 mm, 75 mm and 100 mm have been considered, and the
performance of GAHE system has been determined. While ana-
lysing the effect of diameter of pipe, inlet air temperature and
airflow velocity were kept the same at 42
C and 5 m/s, respectively.
Table 5 shows the variation of air temperature along the length of
pipe at different diameters of pipe after 6 h of continuous
operation.
From Table 5, it is observed that after 6 h of continuous
Fig. 13. Variation of air temperature along the pipe length with different air inlet temperatures with (a) dry soil (b) wet soil with 20% moisture.
operation, a drop in air temperature at 30 m pipe length was
13.1
C, 11.3
C & 8.8
C for GAHE with dry soil, 13.2
C, 12.2
C &
10.8
C for GAHE with wet soil having 5% moisture, and 13.4
C,
12.8
C & 11.4
C for GAHE with wet soil having 20% moisture at
pipe diameter of 50 mm, 75 mm and 100 mm, respectively. Results
show that the drop in air temperature obtained at 30 m pipe length
is decreased by increasing the diameter of pipe and reason can be
attributed to the fact that the distance between pipe center and soil
layer is increased by increasing diameter of pipe. From Table 5, it is
also observed that for any diameter of pipe, more air temperature
drop is observed in wet soil with 20% moisture contents, because
soil with larger moisture contents, being more thermally diffusive
would transfer heat to nearby layer at a faster rate, giving larger
cooling capacity also.
Moreover, from Fig. 15, it is observed that in dry soil, drop in air
temperature obtained was 11.2
C for pipe diameter of 100 mm at
exit of pipe (at 60 m pipe length) and the same drop in air tem-
perature for a pipe diameter of 50 mm and 75 mm is obtained at
18 m, and 28 m pipe length respectively. Similarly, in wet soil
having 20% moisture, drop in air temperature was 12.4
C for pipe
diameter of 100 mm at the exit of pipe and the same amount of
drop in air temperature for pipe diameter of 50 mm and 75 mm is
obtained at 15 m and 24 m pipe length respectively.
From above findings, it is concluded that the pipe length
required to achieve a specified drop in air temperature from GAHE
system is about 70% lesser for pipe diameter of 50 mm as compared
to that of pipe diameter of 100 mm.
Impact of the diameter of pipe on cooling capacity and effec-
tiveness of GAHE system have also been evaluated. From Fig. 16, it is
noticed that as the diameter of pipe increases from 50 mm to
100 mm, the effectiveness of GAHE having dry soil, wet soil with 5%
moisture and wet soil with 20% moisture decreases from 0.87 to
0.59, 0.88 to 0.72, and 0.89 to 0.76, respectively, after 6 h of
continuous operation. However, upon increasing the diameter of
pipe from 50 mm to 100 mm, the cooling capacity of GAHE with dry
soil, wet soil with 5% moisture and wet soil with 20% moisture
increases considerably from 155.0 W to 416.6 W, 156.1 We511.2 W,
and 158.5 We539.6 W.
It is concluded that as the diameter of pipe is increased from
50 mm to 100 mm, the cooling capacity of GAHE system increases
by 168.7%, 227.4% and 240.4% whereas the effectiveness of the
GAHE system decreased only by 32.1%, 18.1% and 14.6% for GAHE
with dry soil, wet soil having 5% moisture and wet soil having 20%
moisture respectively.
 K.K. Agrawal et al. / Renewable Energy 146 (2020) 2070e2083 2081

Fig. 14. Impact of the temperature of inlet air on cooling capacity and effectiveness of GAHE system.

Table 5
Variation of air temperature along the length of pipe for different diameters of pipes at airflow velocity of 5 m/s and air inlet temperature of 42
C.

Length of pipe Air Temperature 

(C)
(m)
Pipe Diameter 50 mm Pipe Diameter 75 mm Pipe Diameter 100 mm

Dry Wet Soil (5% Wet Soil (20% Dry Wet Soil (5% Wet Soil (20% Dry Wet Soil (5% Wet Soil (20%
Soil moisture) moisture) Soil moisture) moisture) Soil moisture) moisture)

0 42.0 42.0 42.0 42.0 42.0 42.0 42.0 42.0 42.0

5 36.1 34.3 34.2 37.4 35.9 35.7 38.6 37.5 37.3
10 33.1 30.8 30.2 35.0 33.2 32.8 36.8 35.5 34.9
20 30.2 29.8 29.1 32.1 31.3 29.9 34.6 32.6 31.8
30 28.9 28.8 28.6 30.7 29.8 29.1 33.2 31.2 30.6
40 28.5 28.4 28.3 29.8 29.5 28.5 32.2 30.6 29.8
50 28.3 28.2 28.1 29.5 29.3 28.3 31.3 30.2 29.7
60 28.2 28.1 28.0 29.4 29.2 28.2 30.8 30.0 29.6

Fig. 15. Variation of air temperature along the pipe length with different diameter of pipe with (a) dry soil (b) wet soil with 20% moisture.

6. Conclusions the experimental work, the performance of GAHE with two

Present research work focuses on investigating the effect of soil
moisture content, inlet air temperature, airflow velocity and
diameter of pipe on the thermal performance of GAHE system by
carrying out experimental work on real field setup of GAHE. In-
fluence of these parameters on the required pipe length to produce
a specified drop in air temperature has also been investigated. In
different levels of soil moisture content has been determined and
compared with that of GAHE with dry soil.
The present study reveals that the thermal performance and
length of pipe of GAHE system is highly dependent on soil moisture
contents, inlet air temperature, airflow velocity and diameter of
pipe. Hence, these parameters must be given a due consideration
while designing a GAHE system. Following key outcomes are drawn
2082 K.K. Agrawal et al. / Renewable Energy 146 (2020) 2070e2083
Fig. 16. Impact of diameter of pipe on cooling capacity and effectiveness of GAHE system.
from the study.
1. Drop in air temperature obtained at a particular pipe length
increases with increasing the soil moisture content and tem-
perature of the air at the inlet of GAHE.
2. Drop in air temperature obtained at a particular pipe length
decreases with an increase in airflow velocity and diameter of
pipe.
3. Drop in air temperature for GAHE with dry soil is 11.2
C at the
exit of the pipe (i.e. 60 m length of pipe). However, the same
amount of drop in air temperature is obtained at a pipe length of
38 m and 28 m only for GAHE with wet soil having 5% moisture
and wet soil having 20% moisture, respectively. Thus, the pipe
length can be reduced by 36.6% and 53.2% by using wet soil
having 5% moisture and wet soil having 20% moisture,
respectively.
4. The required length of pipe for obtaining certain drop in air
temperature is also gets reduced by reducing pipe diameter and
airflow velocity. At airflow velocity of 10 m/s, drop in air tem-
perature obtained is 8
C at the exit of pipe (i.e. 60 m pipe
length) and the same amount of drop in air temperature is ob-
tained at a pipe length of 9.5 m only at an airflow velocity of
2 m/s. Similarly, drop in air temperature obtained is 11.2
C with
a pipe diameter of 100 mm at the exit of pipe (i.e. 60 m pipe
length) and the same amount of drop in air temperature is ob-
tained at 18 m pipe length only with a pipe diameter of 50 mm.
5. With an increase in airflow velocity from 2 m/s to 10 m/s,
cooling capacity of GAHE with dry soil system, wet soil with 5%
moisture and wet soil with 20% moisture increases by 122%,
185% and 220%, respectively, after 6 h of operation, but the
effectiveness of the GAHE system with dry soil system, wet soil
with 5% moisture and wet soil with 20% moisture decreases by
55.4%, 42.5% and 36.2%, respectively.
6. With an increase in inlet air temperature from 38
C to 46
C, the
cooling capacity of GAHE with dry soil system, wet soil with 5%
moisture and wet soil with 20% moisture increases by 78.9%,
81.6% and 85.1%, respectively, after 6 h of operation. Further, the
effectiveness of the GAHE system also increases by 5.2%, 5.7%
and 6.7% for GAHE with dry soil, wet soil with 5% moisture and
20% moisture respectively.
The study recommends that the required length of pipe for
achieving a specific drop in air temperature is greatly reduced by
using moist soil, smaller airflow velocities and the pipe with a small
diameter. These could be possible solutions to a certain extent to
help curb the problem of large land area requirement and large
excavation cost involved for installing long GAHE pipes. However,
low airflow velocity (with a particular diameter of pipe), and small
diameter of the pipe (with a specific airflow velocity) reduces the
total mass flow rate of air and thus reduces cooling capacity of
GAHE system. Moreover, to maintain high soil moisture level at the
vicinity of pipe is a difficult task. The performance of GAHE system
can be improved by considering the results obtained from the
present study and these results provide valuable guidance for the
design of GAHE systems.
Acknowledgements
Authors are thankful to AICTE, New Delhi, India, for imparting
financial assistance under Research Promotional Scheme (RPS) vide
No. 8023/RID/RPS-45/2011e12 to carry out this experimental work.
Moreover, the first author is grateful to the MHRD, Govt. of India for
providing the fellowship for pursuing PhD at Malaviya National
Institute of Technology Jaipur, India.
Appendix A. Supplementary data
Supplementary data to this article can be found online at
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.renene.2019.08.065.
Nomenclature
Inlet air temperature,
C
Ti or Ta,i
Ta,o Outlet air temperature,
C
Initial temperature of pipe surface,
C
Tps, initial
Dt1 to Dt8Air temperature along the length of pipe for dry GAHE,

C
Wt1 to Wt8 Air temperature along the length pipe for wet GAHE,

C
Q Cooling capacity of GAHE system (or Heat transfer rate
from air to soil), watt
Е Effectiveness of GAHE system
m_ Air flow rate in the pipe, kg/s
D Diameter of GAHE pipe, m
V Air flow velocity in GAHE pipe, m/sec
Cp Specific heat of air, J/kg K
 K.K. Agrawal et al. / Renewable Energy 146 (2020) 2070e2083 2083

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