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 capaci...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.展开更多
文摘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.