Contribution of Geothermal Energy for Air Conditioning Applications on Electric Energy Consumption

Abstract

ABSTRACT The use of geothermal as one of the important energy alternatives that has increased interest in facing the excessive use of fossil fuels as a main source of energy. The excessive use of fossil fuel is the main cause of climate change in the world as a result of greenhouse gas emissions. One of the most important applications of geothermal is its use in the heating and air conditioning sector in residential and commercial buildings, as well as in the electric power generation sector, especially in depths that reach a temperature of more than 200 C. In this study, geothermal energy was used in the application of air conditioning and knew its effectiveness in reducing electrical energy consumption compared to traditional systems in the city of Baqubah. A geothermal system was used with a window type air conditioner of a two tons refrigeration capacity to find out the contribution of using geothermal energy in reducing the electricity consumption. The study is a comparison with traditional air conditioning systems Electricity consumption was calculated for three scenarios: the geothermal system alone, the traditional air conditioner system (A/C) alone, and the combined system (the geothermal system and A/C system) The coefficient of performance factor (COP) and energy efficiency ratio (EER) were calculated for the three approaches 5.54, 18.9, 1.52, 9.383, 1.87, 9.8 respectively. The results obtained from the study have demonstrated the possibility of benefiting from geothermal energy in air conditioning applications in Iraq and reducing electricity consumption by reducing dependence on traditional air conditioning systems. The reduction in energy consumption for the summer season was by 12% to 15% for the combined air-conditioning system, while when using the geothermal system alone in the winter season, the reduction in energy consumption was by 87%. Finally, these finding may approve that, the geothermal system can be used as an auxiliary in summer season to decrease electric energy consumption by 15%. Moreover, in winter, the geothermal system alone guarantee the comfort condition most of the season ( 22 C and RH= 60%