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Energies
Volume 19
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10.3390/en19061436
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Article

Preliminary Experimental Investigation of the Performance of a Horizontal Air-Ground Heat Exchanger Integrated with Peltier Cells—The AIRcon.WATER Project

by
Gianluca Falcicchia Ferrara
1,
Cristina Baglivo
1,*,
Giulio Russo
1,
Michele Spagnolo
1,
Marina Bonomolo
2,
Irene Petrosillo
3 and
Paolo Maria Congedo
1
1
Department of Engineering for Innovation, University of Salento, 73100 Lecce, Italy
2
Department of Engineering, University of Palermo, 90128 Palermo, Italy
3
Laboratory of Landscape Ecology, Department of Biological and Environmental Sciences and Technologies, University of Salento, 73100 Lecce, Italy
*
Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.
Energies 2026, 19(6), 1436; https://doi.org/10.3390/en19061436
Submission received: 6 February 2026 / Revised: 27 February 2026 / Accepted: 9 March 2026 / Published: 12 March 2026
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Abstract

This work experimentally investigates the behavior of a new indoor air conditioning system based on the application of Peltier cells in a Horizontal Air–Ground Heat Exchanger (HAGHE). To this end, a laboratory-scale prototype focusing exclusively on the terminal section of the system was developed and tested under controlled conditions. A series of configurations was tested, each representing an evolution of the previous one. The results highlight the strong dependence of system performance on airflow velocity, applied voltage, and heat dissipation effectiveness, demonstrating both the potential and the critical limitations of the proposed configurations. The most promising results were obtained in the advanced (fourth and fifth) configurations, yielding average temperature increases of approximately +1.9 °C on the hot flow and decreases ranging from −1.0 °C to −1.7 °C on the cold flow at moderate total voltages (40–50 V) and higher airflow velocities (0.5–0.6 m/s). In line with the principles of the circular economy, the prototype was constructed using recycled materials, including plastic pipes and Peltier cells recovered from discarded devices.
Keywords: Horizontal Air–Ground Heat Exchanger (HAGHE); Peltier cells; monitoring; experimental; dehumidification; heat transfer; condensation; geothermal system Horizontal Air–Ground Heat Exchanger (HAGHE); Peltier cells; monitoring; experimental; dehumidification; heat transfer; condensation; geothermal system

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MDPI and ACS Style

Falcicchia Ferrara, G.; Baglivo, C.; Russo, G.; Spagnolo, M.; Bonomolo, M.; Petrosillo, I.; Congedo, P.M. Preliminary Experimental Investigation of the Performance of a Horizontal Air-Ground Heat Exchanger Integrated with Peltier Cells—The AIRcon.WATER Project. Energies 2026, 19, 1436. https://doi.org/10.3390/en19061436

AMA Style

Falcicchia Ferrara G, Baglivo C, Russo G, Spagnolo M, Bonomolo M, Petrosillo I, Congedo PM. Preliminary Experimental Investigation of the Performance of a Horizontal Air-Ground Heat Exchanger Integrated with Peltier Cells—The AIRcon.WATER Project. Energies. 2026; 19(6):1436. https://doi.org/10.3390/en19061436

Chicago/Turabian Style

Falcicchia Ferrara, Gianluca, Cristina Baglivo, Giulio Russo, Michele Spagnolo, Marina Bonomolo, Irene Petrosillo, and Paolo Maria Congedo. 2026. "Preliminary Experimental Investigation of the Performance of a Horizontal Air-Ground Heat Exchanger Integrated with Peltier Cells—The AIRcon.WATER Project" Energies 19, no. 6: 1436. https://doi.org/10.3390/en19061436

APA Style

Falcicchia Ferrara, G., Baglivo, C., Russo, G., Spagnolo, M., Bonomolo, M., Petrosillo, I., & Congedo, P. M. (2026). Preliminary Experimental Investigation of the Performance of a Horizontal Air-Ground Heat Exchanger Integrated with Peltier Cells—The AIRcon.WATER Project. Energies, 19(6), 1436. https://doi.org/10.3390/en19061436

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