Feasibility of a geothermal assisted air conditioning system without a refrigerant
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In this thesis we studied the feasibility of an alternative method of air conditioning using only the constant ground temperature and without the use of any refrigerants. In place of refrigerants, we use ethylene glycol (anti-freeze) and water mixture at three different concentration levels and range of indoor temperature settings. Our focus was on the operational cost. A standard residential house was used as the test case and our calculations were based on a finned tube heat exchanger and a ground loop, the total head loss, and the power as well as monthly expense needed for operating the system. It is shown that the power needed to operate the system and the cost of operation of a geothermal assisted air conditioning system is significantly lower than that of conventional air conditioning system while avoiding any use of refrigerants which are potentially harmful for our environment.