Open AccessAssessment of the Potential Use of Shallow Geothermal Energy Source for Air Heating and Cooling in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia
Author(s) -
Mohamed Ouzzane,
M. T. Naqash,
Ouahid Harireche
Publication year - 2021
Publication title -
nature, environment and pollution technology/nature, environment and pollution technology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.154
H-Index - 11
eISSN - 2395-3454
pISSN - 0972-6268
DOI - 10.46488/nept.2021.v20i05.008
Subject(s) - geothermal gradient , geothermal energy , environmental science , geothermal heating , cooling load , heat exchanger , electricity , energy consumption , environmental engineering , air cooling , work (physics) , engineering , geology , mechanical engineering , air conditioning , electrical engineering , geophysics
A large part of the total energy consumption in buildings in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (K.S.A.), is devoted to air cooling. This leads to high electricity costs for residents and a high amount of equivalent CO2 emissions. The work presented in this paper aims at evaluating and applying shallow geothermal energy for cooling and heating to reduce cost and environmental issues in the Kingdom. The system is based on the earth-air heat exchanger (EAHE) equipped with an air circulation fan. In this study, six cities have been selected; Madinah city, where our university is located, and five other cities representing five different climatic zones. A new parameter called “geothermal percentage” is proposed to calculate the ratio of geothermal energy to the cooling/heating total load. It has been shown that the proposed system covers part of the cooling load and the total heating needs for almost all the country’s territory. However, both heating and cooling needs can be fulfilled by the EAHE for few cities such as Guriiat and Khamis, characterized by a moderate climate.