IMPROVING THE PERFORMANCE OF CONDITIONING EQUIPMENT IN POULTRY FACILITY

Earth-to-air heat exchangers (EAHEs) can reduce the energy consumption required for the heating and cooling of buildings. Besides soil temperature and composition, soil moisture can affect thermal performance of EAHE. The aim of this study was to compare thermal performance of EAHE in dry and artificially wetted soil. Tests were carried out in the Basra Province (Iraq), in a semi-desert area. Two experimental EAHEs were built and tested from June 2013 to February 2014, plus the entire month of August 2014. Pipe exchangers were buried at 2 m depth. One EAHE operated in dry soil (DE), while the other one in artificially wetted soil (WE). In the WE system, a drip tubing placed 10 cm above the air pipe wetted the soil around the exchanger. Air temperature at the inlet, at 12.5 m and 24.5 m distance and at the outlet of both of the exchangers, as well as soil temperature at 2 m depth, 25 cm, 50 cm and 100 cm far from the pipe were continuously monitored. The experimental results confirmed that wetting the soil around EAHE improves the general heat exchange efficiency. In the hottest day of the hottest period, the WE system recorded an average cooling coefficient performance of 9.39 against 7.69 of the DE. In the coldest day of the coldest period, the WE system recorded an average heating coefficient performance of 11.08 against 9.86 of the DE. On maximum, in the hottest hours of the day, the ∆t of the WE was 12.60°C while in the DE it was 10.60°C. Moreover, during the nighttime in summer, the WE system warmed the air more than the DE system.