Arrangement Strategy of Ground Heat Exchanger with Groundwater

The orientation strategy of side pipe and the heat transfer performance of six ground heat exchangers(GHEs) were optimized by numerical simulation,with soil being treated as a porous medium.An experiment on the heat transfer of four GHEs was carried out in 2010.Results indicate that the velocity field is disturbed by GHEs.The optimal orientation strategy of side pipe is that the upward pipe is located upstream and the downward pipe downstream.The space between GHEs should be appropriately adjusted,depending on the direction and flow velocity.Groups of GHEs should be installed perpendicular to the mainstream in a single row,but if the acreage does not meet the requirements,GHEs should be installed in staggered multiple rows.Fewer GHEs parallel to the mainstream strengthen the heat transfer.Moreover,numerical results agree well with the test data,with the maximum relative error being less than 7.7%.

Numerical Simulation of Heat Transfer Characteristics of Horizontal Ground Heat Exchanger in Frozen Soil Layer

A simplified numerical model of heat transfer characteristics of horizontal ground heat exchanger (GHE) in the frozen soil layer is presented and the steady-state distribution of temperature field is simulated. Numerical results show that the frozen depth mainly depends on the soil′s moisture content and ambient temperature. The heat transfer loss of horizontal GHE tends to grow with the increase of the soil′s moisture content and the decrease of ambient temperature. Backfilled materials with optimal thermal conductivity can reduce the thermal loss effectively in the frozen soil. The applicability of the Chinese national standard “Technical Code for Ground Source Heat Pump (GB 50366-2005)” is verified. For a ground source heat pump project, the feasible layout of horizontal GHE should be determined based on the integration of the soil′s structure, backfilled materials, weather data, and economic analysis.

Thermal performance of a single U-tube ground heat exchanger:A parametric study

In this research,the thermal performance of a single U-tube vertical ground heat exchanger is evaluated numerically as a function of the most influential flow parameters,namely,the soil porosity,volumetric heat capacity,and thermal conductivity of the backfill material,inlet volume flow rate,and inlet fluid temperature.The results are discussed in terms of the variations of the heat exchange rate,the effective thermal resistance,and the effectiveness of the ground heat exchanger.They show that the inlet volume flow rate,inlet fluid temperature,and backfill material thermal conductivity have significant effects on the thermal performance of the ground heat exchanger,such that by decreasing the inlet volume flow rate and increasing the backfill material thermal conductivity and inlet fluid temperature,the outlet fluid temperature decreases considerably.On the contrary,the soil porosity and backfill material volumetric heat capacity have negligible effects on the studied ground heat exchanger’s thermal performance.The lowest inlet fluid temperature reaches a the maximum effective thermal resistance of borehole and soil,and consequently the minimum heat transfer rate and effectiveness.Also,multilinear regression analyses are performed to determine the most feasible models able to predict the thermal properties of the single U-tube ground heat exchanger.

Experiments Using Capillary Mat as Ground Heat Exchanger for Ground Source Heat Pump Heating Application

The cooling and heating of spaces are among the largest sources for household’s energy demand. Ground Source Heat Pump (GSHP) is a promising technology to reduce the energy for cooling and heating purposes. However, the major obstacle hindering the utilization of this technology is the high initial cost, especially for the installation of ground coupled heat exchanger. The horizontal closed-loop system offers lower installation cost, as it requires no vertical borehole construction. Instead, the heat exchangers can be installed in shallow trenches that may be excavated, by small excavator or even by human labor. This paper presents the comparison of two different heat exchangers, namely, the capillary mat and the widely used slinky pipe. Both heat exchangers are connected to a heat pump, where continuous heating tests were carried out for 165 hours (~7 days) for each configuration. The purpose of this research is to show the performance of capillary mat in comparison to slinky pipe. Despite during the entire test for capillary mat required 6% higher electricity consumption, compared to slinky heat exchanger, the results still suggest the potential use of capillary mat as alternative to slinky heat exchanger. Additionally, the results also highlight the high hydraulic resistance of installed capillary mat heat exchangers may become the major disadvantage of the capillary mat.

Experimental Analysis of Horizontal Ground Heat Exchanger for Northern Tunisia

The aim of this study is first to evaluate the Tunisian geothermal energy and second to test the performance of horizontal ground heat exchanger. An experimental set-up has been constructed for climatic condition of Borj Cedria located in the north of Tunisia for space cooling. Results obtained during experiment were presented and discussed. The ground temperature at several depths was measured, the overall heat transfer coefficient (U) was determined. To evaluate the system efficiency, the energy analysis was applied;the energy efficiency was found to range from 14% to 28%. The heat exchange rate was quantified, the pressure losses were calculated. The total heat rejected by using the ground heat exchanger (GHE) system was compared to the total cool requirements of a tested room with 12 m2 surface. The results showed that the GHE, with 25 m of length buried at 1 m depth, covers 38% of the total cool requirement of the tested room. This study showed that the ground heat exchanger provide a new way of cooling buildings, it also showed that Tunisia have an important thermal potential. This favorable circumstance allows Tunisia to be a pioneer in the exploitation of geothermal energy for the installation of ground source heat pump systems.

Experimental Verification to Estimate Ground Thermal Conductivity Using Spiral Coil Type Ground Heat Exchangers

This paper presents an experimental study on the evaluation of thermal response of a spiral coil type GHE （ground heat exchanger）. This GHE was installed on partially saturated landfill ground that was composed of silt and clay in the runway area of Incheon International airport. TRT （thermal response test） was conducted for more than 65 hours under continuous operation conditions. Ground thermal conductivity was derived based on line source theory, which has usually been found to be appropriate for line type GHEs such as U, W and 2U types. A reasonable method to derive ground thermal conductivity using the infinite line source theory for a spiral coil type GHE was introduced. Ground thermal conductivity from the TRT using spiral coil type GHE was compared with those from the analytical equivalent model of ground thermal conductivity.

Research on ground heat exchanger of Ground Source Heat Pump technique

Ground Source Heat Pump technique and its operating principle are described in this paper. Ground heat exchanger is the key technique of ground source heat pump and its patterns are discussed. Software is helpful to design ground heat exchanger. A project of Chinese Ground Source Heat Pump is introduced and its market is more and more extensive.

Soil Nature Effect Investigation on the Ground-to-Air Heat Exchanger for the Passive Cooling of Rooms

The building sector consumes much energy either for cooling or heating and is associated to greenhouse gas emissions. To meet energy and environmental challenges, the use of ground-to-air heat exchangers for preheating and cooling buildings has recently received considerable attention. They provide substantial energy savings and contribute to the improvement of thermal comfort in buildings. For these systems, the ground temperature plays the main role. The present work aims to investigate numerically the influence of the nature of soil on the thermal behavior of the ground-to-air heat exchanger used for building passive cooling. We have taken into account in this work the influence of the soil nature by considering three types of dry soil: clay soil, sandy-clay soil and sandy soil. The mixed convection equations governing the heat transfers in the earth-to-air heat exchanger have been presented and discretized using the finite difference method with an Alternate Direction Implicit (ADI) scheme. The resulting algebraic equations are then solved using the algorithm of Thomas combined with an iterative Gauss-Seidel procedure. The results show that the flow is dominated by forced convection. The examination of the sensitivity of the model to the type of soil shows that the distributions of contours of streamlines, isotherms, isovalues of moisture are less affected by the variations of the nature of soil through the variation of the diffusivity of the soil. However, it is observed that the temperature values obtained for the clay soil are higher while the sandy soil shows lower temperature values. The values of the ground-to-air heat exchanger efficiency are only slightly influenced by the nature of the soil. Nevertheless, we note a slightly better efficiency for the sandy soil than for the sandy-clayey silt and clayey soils. This result shows that a sandy soil would be more suitable for geothermal system installations.

Advances in ground heat exchangers for space heating and cooling:Review and perspectives

As a renewable energy source,geothermal energy has been widely used to provide space heating and cooling for buildings.The thermal performance of ground heat exchanger(GHE)is significant for the operating efficiency of the ground source heat pump(GSHP)systems.This paper presents a comprehensive review of developments and advances of three kinds of GHE,including vertical borehole GHE(VBGHE),Pile GHE(PGHE),and deep borehole GHE(DBGHE)which are currently popular in larger GSHP systems.Firstly,analytical models proposed to ana-lyze heat transfer process of VBGHE with different geological conditions are summarized,such as homogenous or heterogeneous ground,with or without groundwater advection.Numerical and short-time step models and measures to improve GHE thermal performance are also reviewed.Secondly,a summary of research advances in PGHE is provided,which includes the heat transfer models of PGHE,the effects of geometric structure,oper-ation modes,pile spacing,use of phase change material(PCM),thermal properties of PCM,thermo-mechanical behavior and/or thermal performance of PGHE.The effects of groundwater flow direction and velocity on PGHE are also summarized in brief.Lastly,models of three kinds of DBGHEs,i.e.,deep coaxial GHE(DCGHE),deep U-bend GHE(DUGHE)and super-long gravity heat pipe(SLGHP),are reviewed.The physical bases of the dif-ferent analytical models are elaborated and also their advantages and disadvantages are described.Advances in numerical modelling and improving numerical model calculation speed of DCBHE,DCBHE array,and DUBHE are summarized.The review provides a meaningful reference for the further study of GHEs.

Research on Performance of Ground-Source Heat Pump Double U Underground Pipe Heat Exchange

This paper uses FLUENT software building the three-dimensional unsteady state model of ground source heat pump single U and double U underground pipe to study on heat exchange of underground pipe system in the condition of unsteady state long-term continuous running, analyzes the change of soil temperature filed around underground pipe and performance of underground pipe heat exchange between single U and double U pipe system. The results show that double U pipe system is better than single U system, which can improve unit depth heat exchange efficiency, reduce the number of wells and reduce the initial investment.

Achieving Cooler Soil as an Effective Heat Sink for Earth-to-Air Heat Exchanger (EAHE) Cooling Technology in Malaysia Tropical Climate

This research is intended to explore the capacity of Malaysia soil in becoming a more effective heat sink for the application of Earth-to-Air Heat Exchanger (EAHE) Cooling Technology in Malaysia. EAHE Cooling Technology consists of buried pipes underground where the ambient air is channeled through from the pipe inlet and produces cooler air at its outlet. Within the buried pipes, heat exchange process occurs between the air and the soil that surrounding the pipe. This building cooling technology has been applied in many countries, mostly in temperate or hot and arid climate where the diurnal temperature is large. However, minimal resources were found on the study of EAHE application to buildings in Malaysia, hence there is room to develop. A parametric study on EAHE cooling application in Malaysia was done through field experiment and concluded that among many parameters affecting the technology performance, the soil temperature which surrounded the pipe was the most influential factor. The study recommended to further reduce the soil temperature to achieve a cooler outlet temperature. In response to that, this research conducted a parametric study of soil temperature under three different soil surface conditions: bare, shaded with timber pallettes and insulated with used tyres at 1.0 m and 1.5 m underground. The data was logged for a month and the result has shown significant reduction in the soil temperature underground below the shaded and insulated soil surface as compared to below bare soil surface condition. The insulated soil surface produced the best result where the soil temperature was reduced up to 26.9°C. The main contribution of this paper is to highlight that the soil surface treatment can be used to reduce solar heat gain within the soil underground and thus improving the performance of EAHE Cooling Technology particularly for the application in Malaysia tropical climate.

Experimental study on heat exchange of several types of exchangers

Aiming at the ground-coupled source heat pump that possesses the shortcomings of occupying larger land,this article studies the heat exchanged of heat exchanger in piling,and compares it with common heat exchangers buried directly. The result indicates that the heat exchanger makes the best use of structure of building,saves land,reduces the construction cost,and the heat exchanged is obviously more than exchangers buried directly. In winter condition,when W-shape pipe heat exchanger in pile foundation is 50 m deep and diameter is 800 mm,it transfers 1.2-1.3 times as large as the one of single U-shape buried directly at the flow rate of 0.6 m/s,whose borehole diameter is 300 mm. And in summer condition it does about 2.0-2.3 times as that of U-shape one.

Experimental Investigation on System with Combination of Ground-Source Heat Pump and Solar Collector

This paper presents the heating performance and energy distribution of a system with the combination of ground-source heat pump and solar collector or a solar-assisted ground-source heat pump system (SAGSHPS) by calculation and experiment.The results show that the average absolute error is less than 0.6 ℃ and the relative error is less than 5% under the pulse load when the analytical solution to the 2-D solid cylindrical source model is used for the SAGSHPS.The coefficient of performance (COP) of the SAGSHPS is 2.95-4.70.The average fluid temperature in the borehole heat exchanger can increase by 3 ℃ with the assistance of solar collector,which will improve the COP of the heat pump by approximately 10% from the experimental data.The energy contributions to the total heating load of soil,electricity and solar are 56.30%,36.87% and 6.83%,respectively.

Field evaluation of a ground-coupled heat pump in hot-summer and cold-winter regions

The experimental performance of small-sized ground-coupled heat pump (GCHP) is researched intensively. However, there are little data documenting the operation performance of existing large-sized GCHP system. We presented the actual performance measurement of a GCHP installed for apartment buildings in Wuhan, Hubei province, P. R. China. The system was constructed with a closed vertical typed ground heat exchanger with a total pipe length of 32 000 m. During one year, various operating parameters were monitored, including the outdoor temperature, the flow rate, the electrical consumption, and the water temperature. The seasonal coefficients of performances of the heat pumps and the system based on the measured data were found to be 4.01 and 2.96 in the cooling season, and 3.54 and 2.86 in the heating season, respectively. The GCHP system was more economical than the air-source room air conditioner in the energy efficiency which was increased by 29% in cooling mode and 50% in heating mode. There was an obvious heat imbalance of soil between the injection rate and the extraction rate in the residential GCHP system operation.

地下隐蔽工程地源热泵地埋管管群优化研究

地下建筑地源热泵系统向地下释放的热量常大于所提取的热量,容易造成地埋管区域的热量累积,影响其正常使用。因此,提高地埋管换热器效率,减弱冷热量失衡影响,是地下隐蔽工程应用地源热泵系统亟需解决的问题。文章基于换热器温差场均匀性原则,采用全局优化遗传算法,优化了地埋管换热器管群布置。结果表明:与传统等间距方案相比,优化布置后,16、25个钻孔方案的平均无因次温变热阻分别降低了13.8%和53.3%,平均换热效率分别提高了3.76%和5.74%,即钻孔数量越多,换热效率提升越明显。

竖直单U型地埋管换热器埋管间负热阻现象的参数化研究与分析

基于Mutipole方法对竖直单U型地埋管换热器钻孔内外的耦合传热过程进行求解,在钻孔内三热阻和四热阻简化传热模型基础上,详细地分析钻孔内的复杂稳态传热过程,参数化研究埋管布置结构、回填料与岩土热物性等因素对钻孔内埋管间直接传热热阻的影响规律,揭示导致钻孔内埋管间负热阻现象的本质原因,对钻孔内热阻传热模型的工程实践应用给出参考意见。

地埋管换热系统改造项目关键技术节点施工工艺研究

天津某管业公司建筑原采用常压燃气热水锅炉供热和分体式空调供冷,现拟以浅层地热能为基础能源对原供热制冷系统进行改造,施工前首先通过现场岩土热响应试验、地下管线探测等查明施工场地岩土体结构和换热能力,掌握地下综合管线的分布,并对建筑单位冷热负荷指标校正。重点阐述地埋管换热系统施工过程的关键技术节点,即竖直换热孔钻进、下管、回填及水平管线连接等,为类似改造项目提供参考。

装配式柔性墙体日光温室联合储热系统蓄放热特性

增设多蓄热介质联合主动蓄放热系统是解决装配式柔性墙体日光温室“重保温、轻蓄热”问题的有效方法,但当前对于“土壤-空气-水”多介质联合储热系统蓄放热特性和加温效果尚不明确,针对此问题,该研究以配备“空气源地中热交换-水源后墙循环换热”联合储热系统的装配式柔性墙体日光温室为研究对象,采用现场跟踪测试和能量转移测算,对联合储热系统各自和组合的蓄放热特性进行研究。结果表明,配有联合储热系统的装配式柔性墙体日光温室室内夜间最低空气温度维持在10℃以上,室内外最大温差达26.5℃。0~50 cm的土壤层是该温室主要蓄热介质,晴天土壤层蓄热量最高占总蓄热量的63.5%。地中热交换系统最高占土壤蓄热量的54.4%。水循环系统蓄热量可达424.04 MJ,最高占总蓄热量的45.1%,通过循环蓄热可将储水池内8 m3水的温度提高到35℃。连阴天时,通过引入蓄放热比指标,对联合储热系统的运行效果进行定量评价,发现水循环系统具有蓄放热速度快的特点,蓄放热比绝对值最高可达1.62,是当天土壤蓄放热的1.8倍。但从总量上看,土壤仍是连阴天主要放热来源,在北京地区联合蓄放热系统能够维持3个连阴天的热量需求。水循环系统平均性能系数(coefficient of performance,COP)为9.16,地中热交换系统平均COP为6.82,联合蓄放热系统综合COP为8.85,对比热泵,其节能率达60.26%。研究结果为联合储热系统蓄放热机理研究提供了理论依据。

竖进平出型地埋管群换热器结构与控制优化

【目的】为提高浅层地热能利用效率,亟须对影响地源热泵系统性能的地埋管换热器结构和控制开展优化设计。【方法】建立了一种竖进平出型地埋管群换热器模型,研究其换热系统性能,探究其最佳结构及运行方式。【结果】管群布置横纵比越低,单位面积换热量越大,横纵比超过0.15后对系统影响较小;换热器间距越小,土壤利用率越高,但热短路损失越大;双列双出型埋管每延米换热量相较于双列单出型结构提升7%以上;负荷较大工况下叉排布置结构的换热效果更好;整个夏季优化结构的平均出口温度下降2.28℃,换热器周围土壤温度下降1℃以上;实际运行过程中应优先考虑采用流速随负荷变化控制模式。【结论】研究结果可为地源热泵换热器的设计、制造提供理论依据。

基于土壤分层当量物性的地埋管换热器换热模型研究

文章综合考虑了土壤分层与地下水渗流等情况,结合实测数据,通过地埋管外壁温度计算得出地埋管内部流体温度与不同分层土壤的热物性参数,根据土壤当量物性进行分层,据此建立地埋管换热模型。经过对比验证实验发现,分层换热模型比常规均质模型更接近实测值,误差更小;基于土壤分层当量物性的地埋管换热器换热模型模拟出水温度与实测值平均绝对误差为0.21℃,模拟进、出口换热温差与实测值平均绝对误差为0.14℃,具有较高的准确度,可为工程设计提供依据并作为后续地埋管换热优化研究的基础。