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Feasibility of Municipal Water Mains as Heat Sink for Residential Air-Conditioning
Abstract
It has been proposed that municipal
water mains be used as the heat sink or the heat
source for air-conditioning or heating,
respectively. This paper addresses the extent of
thermal contamination associated with the use
of municipal water in the mains for heat
rejection in residential air-conditioning
applications. A small residential neighborhood
in Austin, Texas was selected, and typical
residential a/c loads and measured water
supply rates in the main were used in the
assessment.
Very substantial increases in water
temperature occur in the mains for air-conditioning,
even if a modest fraction of the
residents opt to install such systems. No more
than 1 to 2 % of residents could adopt such
systems before water temperature rises in the
mains become significant. The general conclusion
is that, while the benefit to an individual using
this concept may be positive, the impact on
water temperature is excessive.
Citation
Vliet, G. C. (1994). Feasibility of Municipal Water Mains as Heat Sink for Residential Air-Conditioning. Energy Systems Laboratory (http://esl.tamu.edu); Texas A&M University (http://www.tamu.edu). Available electronically from https : / /hdl .handle .net /1969 .1 /6647.