Numerical modelling of hybrid vertical earth pipe cooling system

Buildings consume a significant amount of energy and they are responsible for approximately 40% of the total world annual energy consumption. Most of this energy is for the provision of cooling and heating which can be reduced by adopting various energy efficient technologies. Passive air cooling of earth pipe cooling technology is one of them which assist to save energy in the dwellings and buildings for all subtropical zones. It is an approach for cooling specific area in a passive process without using any customary or habitual units such as fan, compressor etc. The paper reports a numerical model of hybrid vertical earth pipe cooling system by combining a vertical earth pipe cooling system with a green roof system. The numerical model was developed using ANSYS Fluent. Data were collected from three air conditioned modelled rooms one of which was connected to a vertical earth pipe cooling system, another to a green roof system and the other to a standard room (not connected to any earth pipe cooling or green roof system). Effect of air temperature, air velocity and relative humidity on the performance of hybrid vertical earth pipe cooling system was assessed in this study. A temperature reduction of 3.02oC was found for the vertical earth pipe cooling system when combined with the green roof system saving energy in the buildings.