| Abstract: | The annual heating and cooling potential of an underground air-pipe system has been evaluated in terms of dimensionless parameters of the system. The effect of diurnal and annual variations of environmental parameters (solar radiation, ambient temperature and relative humidity) has been considered. The results are obtained for hot—dry, cold—dry and composite climatic conditions typified by the Jodhpur, Leh and Delhi climates respectively. The effect of suitable earth surface treatments on the thermal performances of the air-pipe system has also been analysed. For wet—shaded earth surface the cooling potential of a pipe of length 50 m and radius 10 cm at a depth 6 m in Jodhpur climate is found to be 4472 kW h, while for the Leh climate under glazed and blackened earth surface conditions the heating potential of such an air-pipe system is found to be 9097 kW h. |
