Woodson, T; Coulibaly, Y and Traoré, E S (2012) Earth-air heat exchangers for passive air conditioning: Case study Burkina Faso. Journal of Construction in Developing Countries, 17(1), pp. 21-33. ISSN 1823-6499
Abstract
An earth air heat exchanger (EAHX), also known as an earth tube heat exchanger or Canadian well, is a system for cooling and heating buildings using the ground as a heat sink/source. This study examines the ground temperature gradient and the performance of an EAHX performance in Burkina Faso. Ground temperature measurements were made at depths of 0.5 m, 1.0 m and 1.5 m. At the hottest time of the day, 15:00, the average outside temperature was 39.0°C, but the average temperature 1.5 m underground was 30.4°C. A clear phase shift was observed between the maximum outside temperature and the maximum ground temperature: the time of the day when the outside temperature is highest corresponds to the time when the underground temperature was lowest. The EAHX was 25 m long, 1.5 m underground and used a 95 m3/hr ventilator. It was able to cool the air drawn in from the outside by 7.6°C.
| Item Type: | Article |
|---|---|
| Uncontrolled Keywords: | Burkina Faso; Canadian well; earth air heat exchanger; passive solar cooling; Sub-Saharan Africa; thermal ground gradient |
| Index terms: | Sub-Saharan Africa, temperature gradient, case study, tube, temperature measurement, passive solar cooling, earth air heat exchanger, Burkina Faso, Canadian well, thermal ground gradient, air conditioning |
| Subjects: | analytical methods, environmental engineering, energy efficiency, Geography, materials science, data collection methods, thermal systems, renewable energy, energy systems, physical geography and landforms |
| Topics: | Geographical Context, Sustainability, Design Practice, Engineering Principles, Research Practice |
| Descriptive scope: | 3 PCE |
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