Energy and Buildings 86 (2015) 214–221

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Energy and Buildings

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Energy metrics of earth–air heat exchanger system for hot and dry
climatic conditions of India
Trilok Singh Bisoniya ∗ , Anil Kumar, Prashant Baredar
Energy Centre, Department of Mechanical Engineering, Maulana Azad National Institute of Technology, Bhopal 462051, India

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

Article history: The earth–air heat exchangers (EAHE) are promising technology for passive heating/cooling of buildings.
Received 23 August 2014 The study carried out to evaluate annual thermal performance of EAHE system for hot and dry climatic
Received in revised form 1 October 2014 conditions of Bhopal (Central India) has been presented in this paper. A quasi-steady state, 3-D model
Accepted 4 October 2014
based on computational fluid dynamics (CFD) was developed to evaluate the heating/cooling poten-
Available online 14 October 2014
tial of EAHE system. The simulation results were validated against experimental observations taken on
experimental set-up installed in Bhopal (Central India). The energy metrics namely energy payback time
Keywords:
(EPBT) and seasonal energy efficiency ratio (SEER) for EAHE system were evaluated on the basis of energy
Earth–air heat exchanger
Embodied energy
analysis of simulation results.
Energy payback time (EPBT) The embodied energy for the EAHE system was evaluated as 1663.88 kW h. The maximum heating
Seasonal energy efficiency ratio (SEER) potential and cooling potential of EAHE obtained in the months of January and May, respectively, were
Carbon credit potential calculated as 191.06 kW h and 247.25 kW h. The total yearly energy output of EAHE system for air flow
velocity of 5 m/s was found as 1290.53 kW h. The EPBT of EAHE system was calculated as 1.29 years.
The SEER for typical summer and winter months were calculated as 1.34 and 1.10, respectively. The CO2
emission mitigation potential and the total carbon credits earned from EAHE system were calculated as
101.30 tonnes and Rs 1, 72,817.80 ($2837.60), respectively by considering its life span as 50 years.
© 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

1. Introduction constant throughout the year [1–5]. This constant temperature

The living standard of a nation is indicated by its per capita
energy consumption.
The use of air-conditioners and evaporative coolers for heat-
ing/cooling of buildings in order to achieve thermal comfort is
increased considerably. This in return resulted in increase in
high grade energy (electrical energy) consumption and global
warming and depletion of ozone layer due to increased emission
of greenhouse gases in to the atmosphere. The need of hour is to
promote the use of non-conventional energy sources like solar,
wind, biomass, geothermal energy etc. Thermal potential of earth
can be effectively used for passive heating/cooling of buildings. The
temperature of earth at a depth of about 1.5–2 m remains almost
Abbreviations: EAHE, earth–air heat exchanger; COP, coefficient of performance;
ICEM, integrated computer-aided engineering and manufacturing; CFD, computa-
tional fluid dynamics; EPBT, energy payback time; SEER, seasonal energy efficiency
ratio; PV/T, photovoltaic/thermal; PVC, poly-vinyl chloride.
∗ Corresponding author. Tel.: +91 9826880430.
E-mail addresses: tsbisoniya@gmail.com (T.S. Bisoniya),
anilkumar76@gmail.com (A. Kumar), prashant.baredar@gmail.com (P. Baredar).
(earth’s undisturbed temperature) is equal to annual average
temperature of a particular place [1,6]. The earth’s undisturbed
temperature remains lower than ambient temperature in summer
and vice versa in winter. The earth–air heat exchanger (EAHE)
utilizes this temperature gradient between ambient and ground at
a depth of about 1.5 m for passive heating/cooling of buildings. In
this way the emission of CO2 to atmosphere can also be reduced
by reducing high grade energy consumption for heating/cooling of
buildings. The earth can be used as a natural sink throughout the
year. In winter season, the heat is recovered from ground and sup-
plied to the buildings while in summer season heat is discharged
in to the ground from the buildings. In this manner the EAHE can
be used for reducing heating as well as cooling load of buildings.
Several researchers have reported the EAHEs coupled with
buildings as an effective passive energy source for building space
conditioning [7–9]. Bisoniya et al. [10] evaluated the heating
potential of EAHE system installed in Bhopal (Central India) for
winter season. The total hourly heat energy gain or heating poten-
tial obtained from experimental setup of earth–air heat exchanger
varied from 0.59 to 1.22 MJ h for air flow velocities of 2–5 m/s. It
was found that EAHE system can be used effectively to reduce
heat energy demand of buildings in cold and dry winter weather

http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.enbuild.2014.10.012
0378-7788/© 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
 T.S. Bisoniya et al. / Energy and Buildings 86 (2015) 214–221
Nomenclature
Tz,t ground temperature at time t (s) and depth z (m)
Tm average soil surface temperature (◦ C)
Ts amplitude of soil surface variation (◦ C)
␣s soil thermal diffusivity (m2 /s; m2 /day)
t time elapsed from beginning of calendar year (day)
to phase constant of soil surface (s; days)
R correlation coefficient
R2 coefficient of determination
er root mean square of percent deviation
FR heat removal factor
ṁ mass flow rate of air through pipe assembly (kg/s)
d diameter of the pipe (m)
 density of air at given inlet temperature (kg/m3 )
va air flow velocity through the pipe (m/s)
Ca specific heat capacity of air (J/kg K)
Tin air temperature at inlet of EAHE (◦ C)
Tout air temperature at outlet of EAHE (◦ C)
Nh number of hours of use of EAHE system in a day
r radius of EAHE pipe (m)
gh heat transfer coefficient at ground and pipe interface
(W/m2 K)
L length of buried pipe (m)
Nd number of days for which EAHE is used in a month
Eemb total embodied energy of EAHE system (kW h)
Qh heating potential of EAHE system (kW h)
Qc cooling potential of EAHE system (kW h)
conditions. Kumar et al. [11] studied heating and cooling potential
of an earth-to-air heat exchanger using artificial neural network.
Ajmi et al. [12] calculated the cooling capacity of EAHEs for
domestic buildings in a desert climate and found that it can reduce
cooling energy demand in a typical house by 30% over the peak
summer season. Hamada et al. [13] proposed and evaluated an
improved EAHE by using a no-dig method in order to reduce cost of
attaining comfort conditions using underground thermal energy.
Vaz et al. [14] conducted experimental and numerical analysis of
an EAHE which is used to reduce consumption of conventional
energy for heating and cooling of built environments through the
use of thermal energy contained in the soil. Khalajzadeh et al.
[15] evaluated thermal performance of ground heat exchanger
and evaporative cooler hybrid system in summer conditions of
Tehran, Iran. They found that the hybrid system is capable to
replace the conventional air-conditioner effectively and its cooling
effectiveness is more than unity.
Generally, the energy analysis of the system is used to calculate
energy payback time (EPBT). Chel and Tiwari [16] analyzed space
heating and cooling with an EAHE integrated stand alone photo-
voltaic system in New Delhi, India. It was found that the energy
payback is less than 2 years on investment in EAHE system and total
average COP in the experimental period was 10.09. The seasonal
energy efficiency ratio (SEER) for EAHE was determined as 2–3.
Chel and Tiwari [17] investigated thermal performance of an exist-
ing eco-friendly and low embodied energy vault roof passive house
(or mud-house) located at Solar Energy Park of IIT Delhi, New Delhi
(India). Based on embodied energy analysis, the energy payback
time for the mud-house was determined as 18 years. The annual
heating and cooling energy saving potential of the mud-house was
determined as 1481 kW h/year and 1813 kW h/year, respectively
for New Delhi composite climate.
Coccia [18] determined and show new metrics concerning
the energy weakness, energy productivity and efficiency. Energy
metrics can support the monitoring of energy and economic system
215
performances in order to design effective energy strategy and polit-
ical economy interventions focused on the “competitive advantage”
increase of countries in modern economies. Tiwari et al. [19] ana-
lyzed energy metrics (energy payback time, electricity production
factor and life cycle conversion efficiency) of hybrid photovoltaic
(PV) modules and presented for the composite climate of New
Delhi, India. The embodied energy and annual energy outputs have
been used for evaluation of the energy metrics. For hybrid PV mod-
ule, it has been observed that the EPBT gets significantly reduced
by taking into account the increase in annual energy availability
of the thermal energy in addition to the electrical energy. Sharma
and Tiwari [20] carried out life cycle analysis to evaluate over-
all performance of given rated stand- alone solar photovoltaic
(SAPV) in terms of basic energy matrices, life cycle cost analy-
sis, and earned carbon credit. Nayak and Tiwari [21] carried out
a study to evaluate the annual thermal and exergy performance of
a photovoltaic/thermal (PV/T) and EAHE system, integrated with a
greenhouse, located at IIT Delhi, India, for different climatic con-
ditions of Srinagar, Mumbai, Jodhpur, New Delhi and Bangalore. It
was found in results that energy payback time for Jodhpur station
was lowest at 16.7 years and highest for Srinagar station at 21.6
years.
The study carried out to evaluate annual thermal performance of
EAHE system for hot and dry climatic conditions of Bhopal (Central
India) has been presented in this paper. The energy metrics namely
energy payback time (EPBT) and seasonal energy efficiency ratio
(SEER) for EAHE system have been carried out.
Though the earlier researchers have made the EPBT and energy
analysis of hybrid PV systems and PV/T and EAHE integrated green-
house systems but the EPBT and energy analysis of open loop EAHE
system for hot and dry climatic conditions of Bhopal (Central India)
has not been done before. Therefore it is required to study the
energy metrics of this system. A quasi-steady state, 3-D model
based on computational fluid dynamics (CFD) was developed to
evaluate the heating/cooling potential of EAHE system. The simu-
lation model was developed in CFD platform CFX 12.0 which was
also less covered in earlier researches. The simulation results were
validated against experimental observations taken on experimen-
tal set-up installed in Bhopal (Central India). The EPBT and SEER
for EAHE system were evaluated on the basis of energy analysis of
simulation results obtained from CFD model.
2. CFD modeling and experimental validation
2.1. CFD modeling and simulation
Presently, computational fluid dynamics (CFD) is very popular
among researchers for modeling and performance analysis of EAHE
systems [22]. The purpose of CFD simulation is to find out how the
air flow behaves in EAHE system for a given set of inlet and out-
let conditions. These conditions are generally known as boundary
conditions. The CFD modeling is then basically used to get the val-
ues of air flow properties at large number of points in the EAHE
system. These points are generally connected together in the form
of numerical grid or mesh. CFD codes are prepared around the
numerical algorithms that can tackle fluid flow problems. The par-
tial differential equations governing airflow and heat transfer can
be solved numerically in a discretized form with CFD.
2.1.1. Assumptions
It should be noted that there are certain level of numerical
approximations and assumptions made during the development
of CFD model. Therefore, good understanding of the applicability
range and the limitation of a CFD tools is essential to enable the
216 T.S. Bisoniya et al. / Energy and Buildings 86 (2015) 214–221

correct use of these tools. The following assumptions were mainly 42

considered in CFD modeling of EAHE system. 40

• The surface temperature of the ground can be taken equal to the
ambient air temperature, which equals the inlet air temperature.
• Earth’s undisturbed temperature can be approximated to annual
average temperature of the location (Bhopal—India).
• The PVC pipe used in EAHE is of uniform cross section.
• The thickness of pipe used in EAHE is very small hence thermal
resistance of pipe material is negligible.
• The temperature on the surface of pipe is uniform in the axial
direction because the temperature of soil surrounding the pipe is
assumed constant.
2.1.2. Modeling of EAHE system and meshing of model
Thermal model of EAHE system with specified dimensions
(length of buried pipe, 19.228 m; diameter of pipe, 0.1016 m and
depth of burial, 2 m) was developed in Unigraphics NX 7.0. The
model is imported in ICEM CFD where mesh of geometry is gener-
ated. The CFD simulations were performed considering 3-D steady
state, turbulent flow (k-epsilon model) enabling heat transfer and
thermal energy. The total number of nodes and elements gener-
ated in meshing of geometry of EAHE were 1066,370 and 3814,194,
respectively. So, approximately 3.8 million elements (control vol-
umes) were used in CFD analysis.
2.1.3. Earth’s undisturbed temperature
The earth’s undisturbed temperature is an important parameter
in simulation of EAHE system. Assuming homogeneous soil of con-
stant thermal diffusivity, the temperature at any depth z and time
t can be estimated by the following expression [23]:
 at Bhopal city (25.2 ◦ C). No slip condition with smooth wall was
  1/2 
Tz,t = Tm − As exp −z
365˛s
   365 1/2 
2 z analyze the effect of the operating parameters like air flow velocity,
× cos t − to −
365 2 ˛s
where Tz,t is ground temperature at time t (s) and depth z (m);
Tm , average soil surface temperature (◦ C) As , amplitude of soil sur-
face variation (◦ C); ˛s , soil thermal diffusivity (m2 /s; m2 /day); t,
time elapsed from beginning of calendar year (day) and to , phase
constant of soil surface (s; days).
It is very difficult to calculate accurate value of earth’s
undisturbed temperature because the soil parameters are often
unknown. Additionally, it is defined for mean soil properties. Hence,
earth’s undisturbed temperature is hypothetical value which can be
taken equal to annual average soil surface temperature of a partic-
ular locality. The soil surface temperature is assumed equal to the
ambient air temperature. The annual average ambient air tempera-
ture for Bhopal (Central India) is calculated as 25.2 ◦ C (source: IMD,
Pune, India). So, the earth’s undisturbed temperature for Bhopal
city is taken as 25.2 ◦ C.
2.1.4. Boundary conditions
The following boundary conditions were used in the CFD simu-
lation analysis of EAHE system.
Temperature of Air in oC
38
36
34
32
2 m/s
30
3.5 m/s
28
26 5 m/s
24
22
20
Tin T1 T2 T3 T4 T5 T6 Tout
Locations along the length of EAHE
Fig. 1. Simulated temperature along the length of EAHE pipe for various air flow
velocities.
2.1.4.1. Inlet boundary conditions. At inlet of EAHE pipe subsonic
flow regime with medium turbulence is taken. The normal speed of
air flow was defined such as 2, 3.5, 5 m/s etc. The static temperature
of air at inlet was defined such as 40.4, 38.8, 39.9 ◦ C etc. for sum-
mer season. The thermodynamic properties of air like density and
specific heat capacity; transport properties like dynamic viscosity
and thermal conductivity were defined at inlet air temperature.
2.1.4.2. Outlet boundary conditions. In subsonic flow regime, the
relative pressure at outlet of EHE pipe was taken equal to zero atm.
2.1.4.3. Wall. The locations along the length of EAHE pipe were
defined where air temperature was required to be measured. The
temperature on the surface of pipe (wall) was uniform in axial
direction and was taken equal to earth’s undisturbed temperature
taken at inner surface of the pipe.
The fundamental equations of fluid flow and heat transfer have
been used in the analysis. The main purpose of CFD modeling is to
(1)
pipe length, diameter and burial depth of EAHE on thermal perfor-
mance of EAHE system. The thermo-physical properties of PVC pipe
and air used in CFD simulation are shown in Table 1. The soil mois-
ture is defined as the quantity of water contained in the soil on
a volumetric or gravimetric basis. Soil moisture is a key variable
in controlling the exchange of water and heat energy between the
land surface and the atmosphere through evaporation and plant
transpiration. The value of soil moisture depends on climatic con-
ditions of a particular place and is a variable parameter. The value
of soil moisture at Bhopal (Central India) in the month of May was
found approximately equal to 0.18 m3 /m3 of soil.
2.2. Experimental validation
The experiments were carried out on May 17, 2013 at Bhopal
(India) prevailing hot and dry weather conditions during summer.
Both simulation and experimental observations were taken at air
flow velocities of 2, 3.5 and 5 m/s. Table 2 shows comparison of
experimental and simulation temperatures at different locations
along the length of PVC pipe. In Fig. 1 the locations of six thermo-
couples (T1 to T6 ) and Tin and Tout are shown on horizontal axis.

Table 1
Thermo-physical properties of materials used in simulation.

Material Density (kg/m3 ) Specific heat capacity (J/kg K) Thermal conductivity (W/m K) Dynamic viscosity (kg/m s)
◦
Air at 40.4 C 1.1261 1006.9 0.027 1.9166E − 05
PVC 1380 900 0.161 –
Soil* 2058 1843 0.542 –
*
Soil moisture 0.18 m3 /m3
 T.S. Bisoniya et al. / Energy and Buildings 86 (2015) 214–221 217

Table 2
Comparison of experimental and simulated temperatures at different locations along the length of EAHE pipe.

Location Air flow velocity = 2 m/s Air flow velocity = 3.5 m/s Air flow velocity = 5 m/s

Sim. (Temp.) Exp. (Temp.) % (Diff.) Sim. (Temp.) Exp. (Temp.) % (Diff.) Sim. (Temp.) Exp. (Temp.) % (Diff.)

Tin 40.4 40.4 0.00 40.4 40.4 0.00 40.4 40.4 0.00
T1 31.1 33.4 6.82 32.1 34.6 7.22 32.8 35.9 8.63
T2 25.9 28.1 7.82 27.0 29.1 7.21 27.9 29.8 6.37
T3 25.6 27.9 8.24 26.6 28.7 7.31 27.4 29.5 7.11
T4 25.4 27.8 8.63 26.2 28.5 8.07 27.0 29.4 8.16
T5 25.4 27.6 5.79 26.0 28.3 8.12 26.9 29.4 8.50
T6 25.3 27.5 8.00 25.8 28.2 8.51 26.7 29.2 8.56
Tout 25.2 27.5 8.37 25.7 28.2 8.86 26.6 29.1 8.59

The variation of air temperature along the length of pipe from inlet 42
40
to outlet is shown on vertical axis. Fig. 1 indicates that the drop
38

Air temperature in oC
in air temperature is faster for initial length of pipe and it becomes 36
moderate for the remaining length. It is seen that the maximum and 34 R2= 0.978
minimum drop in air temperature of 12.9 ◦ C and 11.3 ◦ C occurred at 32 er = 8.18%
30 Sim. Temp.
air flow velocities of 2 m/s and 5 m/s, respectively. This is because of 28 Exp. Temp.
the fact that as the air flow velocity is increased, the time to which 26
air remains in contact with ground is reduced. 24
22
In literature it is found that EAHE systems are more effective for 20
summer cooling than winter heating of buildings. So, experimental Tin T1 T2 T3 T4 T5 T6 Tout
observations were taken in the month of May prevailing hot and
Locations along the length of EAHE
dry weather conditions for validation of CFD model.
The comparison of simulation and experimental results Fig. 4. Temperature distribution along the length of EAHE pipe for air flow velocity
obtained at different locations along the length of EAHE pipe for of 5 m/s.
air flow velocities of 2, 3.5 and 5 m/s are shown in Figs. 2–4, respec-
tively.
value of the coefficient of correlation is greater than 0.8 it means
For validation of simulation results against experimental obser-
there is strong relationship between experimental observation and
vations, statistical analysis presented by Chapra and Canale [24] is
simulation results and at its maximum value 1 means there is per-
carried out to calculate correlation coefficient (R) and root mean
fect relationship. The zero value of correlation coefficient means
square of percent deviation (er ). The value of coefficient of corre-
that there is no relationship. The coefficient of determination (R2 )
lation varies from −1 to +1. The positive value indicates positive
is a measure of how well the regression line represents the data.
correlation between simulation results and experimental observa-
The coefficient of determination (R2 ) is such that 0 ≤ R2 ≤ 1, and
tions whereas the negative value shows negative correlation. If the
denotes the strength of the linear association between simulation
and experimental data.
How close the simulation results with the experimental data are,
42
40 can be presented in terms of root mean square of percent deviation
38
Air temperature in oC

(er ).
36
34
The values of coefficient of determination (R2 ) and root mean
R2 = 0.994
32 square of percent deviation (er ) are shown in Figs. 2–4. It is seen
30
er = 8.14% Sim. Temp.
that the values of coefficient of determination (R2 ) and root mean
28 Exp. Temp.
26 square of percent deviation (er ) obtained at air flow velocities of 2,
24 3.5 and 5 m/s through EAHE pipe were 0.994, 8.14%; 0.992, 8.09%
22 and 0.978, 8.18%, respectively. This showed that the CFD model
20
Tin T1 T2 T3 T4 T5 T6 Tout of EAHE system presented in this paper was in good agreement
Locations along the length of EAHE with the experimental results for hot and dry climatic conditions
of Bhopal (India).
Fig. 2. Temperature distribution along the length of EAHE pipe for air flow velocity
of 2 m/s.
3. Materials and method

42 3.1. Materials
40
Air temperature in oC

38
36 3.1.1. Specifications of earth–air heat exchanger system
34
32
R2 = 0.992
30 er = 8.09% Sim. Temp.
Length of buried pipes 19.228 m
28 Exp. Temp. Diameter of buried pipe 0.1016 m
26 Depth of burial 2m
24
Blower capacity 0.5 hp
22
20
Tin T1 T2 T3 T4 T5 T6 Tout
3.2. Methods
Locations along the length of EAHE

Fig. 3. Temperature distribution along the length of EAHE pipe for air flow velocity The ambient air temperature (◦ C), relative humidity (%) and
of 3.5 m/s. rainfall at Bhopal (Central India) for the year 2013 have been
218 T.S. Bisoniya et al. / Energy and Buildings 86 (2015) 214–221

Table 3
Monthly average temperature and thermo-physical properties of ambient air (year 2013).

Months No. of days, Nd Average air temperature (◦ C) Air density,  (kg/m3 ) Specific heat of air, Cp (J/Kg K)

January 31 18.4 1.211 1006.0

February 28 22.0 1.197 1006.2
March 31 28.6 1.170 1006.4
April 30 33.9 1.150 1006.6
May 31 34.8 1.147 1006.7
June 30 31.2 1.160 1006.5
July 31 27.1 1.176 1006.3
August 31 26.2 1.179 1006.3
September 30 28.3 1.165 1006.5
October 31 26.7 1.178 1006.3
November 30 23.4 1.191 1006.2
December 31 21.3 1.199 1006.1

recorded at 3 h intervals on daily basis (Source: IMD, Pune). Now, monthly thermal energy output in kW h can be calculated
From this data the monthly average ambient air temperatures by using following equation [21]:
and corresponding thermo-physical properties were calculated for 
months January–December, 2013 as shown in Table 3 (Source:  Q̇u
daily
× Nd
www.google.com/fluidpropertiescalculator). Q̇u = (3)
monthly 1000
The simulation observations were taken at air flow velocities
of 2, 3.5 and 5 m/s for monthly average ambient air temperature as where Nd is number of days for which EAHE is used in a month.
input using the computational fluid dynamics (CFD) model of EAHE Finally, the yearly thermal energy output in kW h/year obtained
system. from EAHE system can be calculated by following equation [21]:

4. Methodology 

12

Q̇u = Q̇u (4)
yearly monthly
By evaluating the earth’s undisturbed temperature as discussed i=1

in Section 2.1.3, hourly thermal energy gain from EAHE system

can be calculated. After calculating hourly thermal energy gain, 5.2. Embodied energy of EAHE system
daily thermal energy gain can be estimated. Now, monthly ther-
mal energy gain can be calculated by multiplying daily thermal For evaluating embodied energy of EAHE system, the total
energy gain with no of days in a month. Finally, the annual ther- energy requirement for individual components and their manu-
mal energy gain obtained from EAHE system can be calculated by facturing energy has to be calculated.
addition of monthly thermal energy gained from twelve months of Embodied energy of 0.1016 m diameter PVC
a year. Following calculations have been used in this paper: pipe = 104.15 MJ/kg = 5988.62 MJ = 1663.5 kW h (length of PVC
pipe = 19.228 m and weight of 19.228 m long pipe = 57.5 kg)
(i) Embodied energy of EAHE system. Embodied energy of 0.5 hp blower = 373 W = 0.38 kW h.
(ii) Energy metrics namely energy payback time (EPBT) and sea- Total embodied energy of EAHE system becomes,
sonal energy efficiency ratio (SEER) for known embodied Eemb = 1663.5 kW h + 0.38 kW h = 1663.88 kW h
energy of EAHE system.
(iii) The CO2 emission mitigation potential of EAHE system and
corresponding carbon credits earned. 5.3. Energy metrics

5.3.1. Energy payback time (EPBT)

5. Energy analysis
5.1. Annual thermal energy output
The rate of daily thermal energy output obtained from EAHE
system can be calculated by using the following equation [25]:

Q̇u = FR ṁa Ca (Tin − Tout ) × Nh
daily
where (Q̇u )daily is daily thermal energy output (W h); FR

removal factor; ṁa = /4 d2 va ; ṁ, mass flow rate of air through
pipe assembly (kg/s); d diameter of the pipe (m);  density of air
at given inlet temperature (kg/m3 ); va air flow velocity through the
pipe (m/s); Ca specific heat capacity of air (J/kg K); Tin air temper-
ature at inlet of EAHE (◦ C); Tout air temperature at outlet of EAHE
(◦ C) and Nh is number of hours of use of EAHE system in a day.
2rhg L
FR = 1 −
eṁa ca
where r is radius of EAHE pipe (m); hg is heat transfer coefficient at
ground and pipe interface (W/m2 K); L is length of buried pipe (m).
The number of years required to recover energy invested, i.e. in
manufacturing, transportation, installation, operation and mainte-
nance of the system while in use is called EPBT. EPBT can be defined
as ratio of embodied energy of EAHE system (kW h) to total yearly
energy output of EAHE system (kW h) and can be obtained by using
the following equation [21]:
(2)
E
Eepb =  emb
(5)
is heat Q̇u
yearly
where Eemb is total embodied energy of EAHE system (kW h);
(Q̇u )yearly is total yearly energy output of EAHE system (kW h/year)
and Eepb is energy payback time (years)
5.3.2. Seasonal energy efficiency ratio (SEER)
The seasonal energy efficiency ratio (SEER) is measure of heat-
ing/cooling efficiency of heat pump/air conditioners. The value of
SEER is determined by dividing the total monthly heat energy
gain/loss (in winter/summer, respectively) from the room air by
the total monthly energy consumed by the EAHE. The SEER value
 T.S. Bisoniya et al. / Energy and Buildings 86 (2015) 214–221 219

Table 4 Table 5
Simulated temperatures at different locations along the length of EAHE pipe for Simulated temperatures at different locations along the length of EAHE for summer
winter months at air flow velocity of 2 m/s. and rainy months at air flow velocity of 2 m/s.

Locations Jan Feb Nov Dec Locations March April May June July August Sep Oct

Tin 18.4 22.0 23.4 21.3 Tin 28.6 33.9 34.8 31.2 27.1 26.2 28.3 26.7
T1 21.6 23.4 24.1 23.0 T1 27.4 29.5 30.3 27.9 26.3 25.9 26.9 26.0
T2 22.7 23.9 24.4 23.7 T2 26.7 27.6 28.4 26.7 26.0 25.7 26.3 25.7
T3 23.4 24.4 24.7 24.2 T3 26.3 27.1 27.7 26.3 25.8 25.5 26.0 25.5
T4 23.9 24.6 24.9 24.6 T4 26.0 26.7 27.2 26.1 25.6 25.4 25.8 25.4
T5 24.3 24.7 25.0 24.8 T5 25.8 26.4 26.8 26.0 25.5 25.3 25.7 25.3
T6 24.5 24.8 25.1 24.9 T6 25.7 26.2 26.5 25.9 25.5 25.2 25.6 25.2
Tout 24.6 24.9 25.2 25.0 Tout 25.6 26.1 26.4 25.8 25.4 25.2 25.5 25.2

is always desired to be more than one for EAHE to be economically

viable. The SEER can be calculated by using following equation [16]:

monthly heat gain or loss in kW h

SEER = (6)
monthly electrical energy consumed in kW h

The electrical energy consumed by air blower can be determined

by multiplying number of hours of operation of EAHE with the air
blower motor capacity of 0.373 kW.

6. Simulation results and analysis

The simulation results obtained from CFD model of EAHE system

for winter as well as summer months of year 2103 are presented
in this section and their analysis have been done. The simulated air
temperatures at different locations along the length of EAHE pipe
for winter months of year 2013 for air flow velocity of 2 m/s are
shown in Table 4. The improvement in performance of EAHE system
was observed when the temperature of air at inlet of EAHE pipe was
lowest during winter season. The maximum rise in air temperature
of 6.2 ◦ C was recorded with lowest inlet air temperature of 18.4 ◦ C
in January, 2013 whereas the minimum rise in air temperature of
1.8 ◦ C was recorded with highest inlet air temperature of 23.4 ◦ C in
November, 2013.
The variation of simulated air temperatures along the length of
EAHE pipe for air flow velocity of 2 m/s during winter months are
shown in Fig. 5.
The simulated air temperatures at different locations along the
length of EAHE pipe for summer as well as rainy months of year
2013 for air flow velocity of 2 m/s are shown in Table 5. The max-
imum drop in air temperature while it passes through the pipes
of EAHE was observed when the inlet air temperature was high-
est during summer and rainy season. The maximum drop in air
temperature of 8.4 ◦ C was recorded with highest inlet air temper-
ature of 34.8 ◦ C in the month of May, 2013 whereas the minimum
26
25
Temperature of air in oC
Fig. 6. Temperature distribution along the length of the EAHE for air flow velocity
2.0 m/s during summer and rainy months.
drop in air temperature of 1 ◦ C was recorded with lowest inlet air
temperature of 26.2 ◦ C in August, 2013.
The variation of simulated air temperature along the length of
EAHE pipe for air flow velocity of 2 m/s during summer as well as
rainy months are shown in Fig. 6.
The heating and cooling potential of EAHE system can be calcu-
lated by following equations [4,10]:
Qh = ṁCp (Tout − Tin ) Nh (7)
Qc = ṁCp (Tin − Tout ) Nh (8)
where Nh is number of hours of use of EAHE system in a month.
The simulated air temperatures were obtained for air flow veloc-
ities of 2, 3.5 and 5 m/s during winter months of year 2013 from
CFD model of EAHE system. The heating potential of EAHE system
obtained during winter months for different air flow velocities is
shown in Table 6.
It was observed that heating potential of EAHE system increased
with increase in air flow velocity as shown in Fig. 7. The percentage
increase in heating potential with increase in air flow velocity have
shown decreasing trend. In case of January, 2013 increase in heating
potential was 62.35% as air flow velocity was increased from 2 to
3.5 m/s whereas the increase in heating potential was reduced to

24 28% with increase in air flow velocity from 3.5 to 5 m/s.

Jan The simulated air temperatures were obtained at air flow veloc-
23
ities of 2, 3.5 and 5 m/s for summer and rainy months of year 2013.
22 Feb
Nov
21 Table 6
Dec Heating potential for winter months of year 2013 at different air flow velocities.
20
19 Heating potential, Qh (kW h)

18 Winter months of 2013 Air flow velocity

Tin T1 T2 T3 T4 T5 T6 Tout
2 m/s 3.5 m/s 5 m/s

Locations along the length of EAHE Jan 91.88 149.17 191.06

Feb 37.84 59.71 68.90
Nov 25.04 39.17 45.47
Fig. 5. Temperature distribution along the length of the EAHE for air flow velocity
Dec 53.72 84.04 101.87
2.0 m/s during winter months.
220 T.S. Bisoniya et al. / Energy and Buildings 86 (2015) 214–221

200 Table 8
180 Annual energy output of EAHE during Jan–Dec, 2013.
Heating potential in kWh

160 Air flow velocity in m/s Annual energy output in kW h

140
2 624.01
120 3.5 1031.44
100 2m/s 5 1290.53
80 3.5 m/s
60
5 m/s
40
During Jan-Dec, 2013
20 1400

Annual Energy output in kWh

0
Jan Feb Nov Dec
1200
Winter months of year 2013 1000

Fig. 7. Variation of heating potential of EAHE system during winter months for 800
different air flow velocities.
600
400
260
240 200
220
Cooling potential in kWh

200 0
180 2 m/s 3.5 m/s 5 m/s
160
140 2 m/s Air flow velocity in m/s
120 3.5 m/s
100 Fig. 9. Annual energy output of EAHE system during Jan–Dec, 2013.
5 m/s
80
60
40
20 conditions of Bhopal (Central India) is 1290.53 kW h. The EPBT in
0
March April May June July Aug Sep Oct
this case is calculated as 1.29 years.
Summer and rainy months of year 2013

Fig. 8. Variation of cooling potential of EAHE system during summer and rainy
months for different air flow velocities.
The cooling potential of EAHE system obtained during summer and
rainy months of year 2013 for different air flow velocities is shown
in Table 7. It was observed that cooling potential of EAHE system
also increased with increase in air flow velocity as shown in Fig. 8.
The percentage increase in cooling potential with increase in air
flow velocity have shown decreasing trend. In case of May, 2013
increase in cooling potential was 66.04% as air flow velocity was
increased from 2 to 3.5 m/s whereas the increase in cooling poten-
tial was reduced to 28.39% with increase in air flow velocity from
3.5 to 5 m/s.
The annual energy output obtained from EAHE system during
Jan–Dec, 2013 at air flow velocities of 2, 3.5 and 5 m/s were given
in Table 8.
The increase in annual energy output of EAHE during Jan–Dec,
2013 was 65.3% as air flow velocity was increased from 2 to 3.5 m/s
whereas the increase in annual energy output was reduced to 25.1%
with increase in air flow velocity from 3.5 to 5 m/s as shown in Fig. 9.
7.2. Seasonal energy efficiency ratio (SEER)
The maximum cooling potential of EAHE system in the summer
month of May, 2013 was found as 247.25 kW h and electrical energy
consumed was calculated as 185.01 kW h. The SEER for typical sum-
mer month is calculated as 1.34. Similarly, the heating potential of
EAHE system in the winter month of December, 2013 was found
as 101.87 kW h and electrical energy consumed was calculated as
92.50 kW h. So, the SEER for typical winter month is calculated as
1.10. The higher value of SEER in summer season in comparison to
winter season indicates that the EAHE system is more effective for
summer cooling than winter heating.
7.3. CO2 emission mitigation potential of EAHE system
The average intensity of CO2 emission from a coal fired power
plant in India is 1.57 kg/kW h [17,26]. Based on this the total CO2
emission mitigation from the proposed EAHE system can be calcu-
lated by following equation [26]:
CO2 emission mitigated (kg) = 1.57 (kg/year)

7. Energy metrics analysis and carbon credits earned × annual energy saving (kW h/year) × life span (year) (9)

7.1. Energy payback time (EPBT)

Considering the life span of EAHE system equal to 50 years and
The embodied energy for the EAHE system is 1663.88 kW h and annual energy output for air flow velocity of 5 m/s, the CO2 emission
total yearly energy output of EAHE system for hot and dry climatic mitigation potential of EAHE system is calculated as 101.30 tonnes.

Table 7
Cooling potential for summer and rainy months of year 2013 at different air flow velocities.

Air flow velocity in m/s Monthly cooling potential in kW h

March April May June July Aug Sep Oct

2 42.60 105.40 117 73.62 24.27 14.31 38.33 21.45

3.5 67.11 175.01 192.58 114.52 37.47 22.54 55.09 35.03
5 74.57 226.35 247.25 132.92 69.02 28.62 61.60 42.90
 T.S. Bisoniya et al. / Energy and Buildings 86 (2015) 214–221
7.4. Carbon credit potential of EAHE system
One carbon credit equals the mitigation of 1 tonne of CO2 emis-
sion. The market value for 1 carbon credit is Rs 1706 t−1 ($28.37 t−1 )
[27]. The amount of carbon credited earned from EAHE system can
be calculated from the following equation [27]:
 [5] Trilok Singh Bisoniya, Anil Kumar, Prashant Baredar, Experimental and ana-
carbon credit earned (Rs) = 1706 Rs/ton
× annual CO2 emission mitigation (tons) (10)
The carbon credit earned from EAHE system is calculated as Rs
1, 72,817.80 ($2837.60) for the life span of 50 years. The carbon
credits earned from EAHE system mainly depends on its annual
energy saving and life span of the system. Generally the life span
of PVC pipes were found more than 50 years therefore the carbon
credits earned from the EAHE system will also increase accordingly.
8. Conclusion
The energy metrics namely energy payback time (EPBT) and sea-
sonal energy efficiency ratio (SEER) for EAHE system have been
calculated. The EPBT and SEER for EAHE system were evaluated
on the basis of energy analysis of simulation results obtained from
CFD model. It was observed that maximum rise in air temperature
while it passed through the pipe of EAHE system occurred when the
temperature of air at inlet of pipe was lowest during winter sea-
son. Similarly it was found that maximum drop in air temperature
while it passed through the pipe of EAHE system occurred when the
inlet air temperature was highest during summer and rainy season.
The percentage increase in heating as well as cooling potential with
increase in air flow velocity have shown decreasing trend. Approxi-
mately 65% increase in heating/cooling potential was observed with
increase in air flow velocity from 2 to 3.5 m/s whereas the incre-
ment of about 25% was recorded with increase in air flow velocity
from 3.5 to 5 m/s.
The increase in annual energy output of EAHE during Jan–Dec,
2013 was 65.3% as air flow velocity was increased from 2 to 3.5 m/s
whereas the increase in annual energy output was reduced to 25.1%
with increase in air flow velocity from 3.5 to 5 m/s The embod-
ied energy for the EAHE system is 1663.88 kW h and total yearly
energy output of EAHE system for air flow velocity of 5 m/s for hot
and dry climatic conditions of Bhopal (Central India) was found
1290.53 kW h. The EPBT of EAHE system was calculated as 1.29
years. The SEER for typical summer and winter months were cal-
culated as 1.34 and 1.10, respectively. Considering the life span
of EAHE system equal to 50 years, the CO2 emission mitigation
potential and the total carbon credit earned from EAHE system
were calculated as 101.30 tonnes and Rs 1, 72,817.80 ($2837.60),
respectively.
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