Prediction and parametric analysis of 3D borehole and total internal thermal resistance of single U-tube borehole heat exchanger for ground source heat pumps

The borehole and total internal thermal resistance are both significant parameters in evaluating the thermal performance of the ground source heat pump.This study aimed to obtain the accurate correlation of the 3D borehole and total internal thermal resistance(R_(b,3D)and R_(a,3D))and analyze the impacts of parameters on the R_(b,3D)and R_(a,3D).Firstly,eight parameters affecting the R_(b,3D)and R_(a,3D),including the borehole diameter,pipe diameter,pipe-pipe distance,borehole depth,soil thermal conductivity,grout thermal conductivity,pipe thermal conductivity,and fluid velocity inside the pipe,were considered and an L-54 design matrix was generated.Then,the 3D numerical model,coupling with the four-resistance model,was proposed to calculate R_(b,3D)and R_(a,3D)for each case.After that,the response surface methodology was employed to obtain and verify the correlation of R_(b,3D)and R_(a,3D),which were compared with the existing resistance calculation methods.Lastly,analysis of variance was carried out to reveal parameters that have statistically significant impacts on the R_(b,3D)and R_(a,3D).Results show that the rationality and accuracy of the correlation of R_(b,3D)and R_(a,3D)can be verified by the determination coefficient and P value of regression model,as well as the P value of lack-of-fit.The existing resistance calculation methods are more or less inaccurate and the discrepancies in some cases can be up to 86.74%and 111.35%for the borehole and total internal thermal resistance.The pipe and grout thermal conductivity,pipe and borehole diameter,and the pipe-pipe distance can be seen as the significant contributory factors to the variation of R_(b,3D)and R_(a,3D).

The Application of the Ground Source and Air-to-Water Heat Pumps in Cold Climate Areas

This article gives an overview of using the ground source heat pump (GSHP) and air-to-water heat pump (A&WHP) in cold climate areas for heating and for domestic hot water production of buildings. Computer simulation and analysis were carried out for a typical detached house, with 200 m2 of living area, the heat demand of 9 kW and the average heat demand for DHW production of 1 kW. In heating period the average Coefficient of Performance (COP) of the A&WHP is considerably lower than COP of the GSHP.

Possibilities of Reducing Energy Consumption by Optimization of Ground Source Heat Pump Systems in Babylon, Iraq

Iraq is located in the Middle East with an area that reaches 437,072 km2 and a population of about 36 million. This country is suffering from severe electricity shortage problems which are expected to increase with time. In this research, an attempt is made to minimize this problem by combining the borehole thermal energy storage (BTES) with a heat pump, the indoor temperature of a residential building or other facility may be increased or reduced beyond the temperature interval of the heat carrier fluid. Due to the relatively high ground temperature in Middle Eastern countries, the seasonal thermal energy storages (STES) and ground source heat pump (GSHP) systems have a remarkable potential, partly because the reduced thermal losses from the underground storage and the expected high COP (ratio of thermal energy gain to required driving energy (electricity)) of a heat pump, partly because of the potential for using STES directly for heating and cooling. In this research, groundwater conditions of Babylon city in Iraq were investigated to evaluate the possibility of using GSHP to reduce energy consumption. It is believed that such system will reduce consumed energy by about 60%.

Zoning operation of energy piles to alleviate the soil thermal imbalance of ground source heat pump systems

Energy piles have attracted increasing interest for application in ground source heat pumps,because it is environment-friendly,energy-efficient,and without additional drilling cost.However,when there is a large dif-ference between the heating and cooling loads,the system will suffer from a soil thermal imbalance which may further decline the system performance and even cause a system failure.A hybrid ground source heat pump sys-tem that integrates auxiliary equipment can solve the problem,however,it needs additional investment and a complicated control strategy.In this paper,the zoning operation of energy piles can effectively improve the tem-perature recovery ability of soil in the energy pile group and thus alleviate the soil thermal imbalance.Specifically,a heating-dominated residential building in Beijing is selected for a case study,with 144 energy piles arranged in a 12×12 layout.An analytical model of the spiral-coil energy pile group with seepage will be adopted,which can consider the groundwater flow,the geometry of spiral coils,and the thermal interaction among different energy piles,achieving high calculation accuracy and fast calculation speed.Based on this analytical energy pile model,a system model will be built to investigate the system performance influenced by different zoning operation strategies.Results show that intensive heat injection into the center of the pile group(Strategy 2 and Strategy 3)or heat extraction from the outer layer of the pile group(Strategy 4)can relieve the cold accumulation.Strategy 2 can relieve the outlet temperature decline from 5.54℃ to 4.46℃ and improve the heating COP from 3.297 to 3.423 compared to the conventional full operation strategy.Although the annual heat pump COP of Strategy 2 is a little lower than that of conventional full operation strategy,Strategy 2 has the shortest unmet heating or cooling time.Therefore,the proposed zoning operation strategy can achieve good system efficiency and excellent system reliability compared to the conventional strategy.

Thermal Efficiency Optimization of a Ground Source Heat Pump System by Assistant Preheating/Precooling: A Case Study on a Heating-Load Dominated Building

Operation strategies of Ground Source Heat Pump System(GSHPS) such as continuous or intermittent approaches have been extensively studied. In this work, a novel strategy was proposed to maximize the energy efficiency of GSHPS. In this approach, the buildings was first air-conditioned by the preheating/precooling mode and the rest thermal load was covered by the heat pump(HP) mode. The system performance can then be optimized by considering the combination of these two operating modes. A case study was made to examine the thermal performance of a GSHPS installed in Nuremberg, Germany. Thermal performance of the HP and the preheating/precooling operating modes was examined. The system was optimized by deploying the assistant preheating/precooling approach and over one-year period monitoring showed that the seasonal Coefficient of Performance(COP) of the GSHPS was 4.12 in winter and 5.01 in summer. These COP values are higher than that of the conventional GSHPS. Thus, this proposed strategy could be an efficient way to improve the thermal performance of GSHPS.

Application and development of ground source heat pump technology in China

Ground source heat pumps (GSHPs) are one of the renewable energy technologies with features of high efficiency, energy saving, economic feasibility and environmental protection. In China, GSHPs have been widely used for building heating and cooling in recent years, and have shown great potential for future energy development. This paper summarizes the classification, development history, and use status of shallow GSHPs. Several typical engineering cases of GSHP technology are also specified and analyzed. Finally, promising development trends and some advanced technologies are illustrated.

Comparative Analysis of Two Energy-Efficient Technologies Used in the Shanghai Tower

Climate change continues to affect the lives of individuals across the world, creating a rise in demand for new technologies that can slow down the impacts of climate change. Shanghai, one of the largest cities in the world, has one of the highest carbon emission levels. In recent years, the research and development of energy-efficient technologies have gained more and more attention. The Shanghai Tower is a pioneer in green building design and a prominent example of Shanghai’s efforts towards low-carbon city development. In this paper, two technologies within the Shanghai Tower—ground source heat pumps (GSHP) and double skin facades (DSF)—will be analyzed. The paper will consist of firstly an investigation of the principles of the technologies, and then analysis, evaluation, and comparison of their respective characteristics. While both GSHP and DSF are used for sustainable purposes, the effectiveness of technologies depends on what environment the technology is used in and what purpose they serve. The evaluation of GSHP and DSF will be based on their performances under Shanghai’s climate and whether they contribute to the purposes of the Shanghai Tower.

Numerical Simulation of Mid-Deep Buried Casing Heat Exchanger and its Heating System Application

Although the mid-deep ground source heat pump could be more excellent for heating compared to other heat pumps,whose well depth is usually 2000-4000 m underground,the references on it is far fewer than the market demand to apply it more.To facility the application of the mid-deep ground source heat pump and the heating problem solution to transform the coal-boiler used in a Logistics Park of Lanzhou city,firstly,this paper established a three-dimensional numerical model of mid-deep ground source heat exchanger,and analyzed the effects of well flow,diameter and depth on heat pump performance with the help of Fluent software.And then,the heating source renovation to mid-deep ground source heat pump was carried out and the test funded by the local government was followed from February 1,2018 to March 31,2018.It is concluded that the numerical analysis is reasonable and the heating system is effective and reliable,whose average COP(coefficient of performance)and cumulative power consumption is 3.47 and 67727 kWh respectively during the test period.

Discontinuous Operation of Geothermal Heat Exchangers

Ground source heat pump (GSHP) systems for HVAC have aroused more and more interest in China in recent years because of their higher energy efficiency compared with conventional systems. The design and performance simulation of the geothermal heat exchangers is vital to the success of this technology. In GSHP systems, the load of the geothermal heat exchanger varies greatly and is usually discontinuous even during a heating or cooling season. This paper outlines a heat transfer model for geothermal heat exchangers. The model was used to study the influence of the discontinuous operation of the heat pumps on the performance of the geothermal heat exchangers. A simple and practical approach is presented for sizing the geothermal heat exchangers.

Numercial analysis on the thermal performance of capillary heat exchange system in metro running tunnel

During the operation of the capillary heat exchange system in the metro tunnel,the pipe length,pipe spacing and air velocity have different effects on the heat transfer effect and show certain rules.Taking Kunming as an example,a single-factor analysis method was used to establish multiple-capillary model,and the variation of different influencing factors in the heat transfer process was obtained.On this basis,a single-capillary model was established to analyze the thermal interference variation of the pipe spacing between the two models.Under the condition of ensuring the capillary outlet water temperature and heat flux,the relevant parameters of the capillary heat exchanger were optimized.The results show that the pipe length of the capillary heat exchanger should be kept within 3-5 m,the pipe spacing is maintained at 20-30 mm,and the capillary heat exchanger of each set can be operated in parallel to ensure that heat exchanger have better heat transfer performance.During the system stop running,the air velocity in winter and summer has different effects on the recovery of surrounding rock.

ANALYSIS OF SEEPAGE FLOW IN A CONFINED AQUIFER WITH A STANDING COLUMN WELL

The standing column well for ground source heat pump systems is a promising technology with high efficiency and environmental benefit, where groundwater is drawn from the bottom of a well and then re-injected to its top after transferring heat with heat pumps. Heat transfer analysis of great significance and aquifer involves complex problems. Determining the groundwater seepage flow is a precondition to solve the energy equation describing the heat transfer of the system. Only when piezometric head is obtained, the seepage velocity can be determined according to Darcy＇s law. In this article the groundwater seepage flow in an axial symmetrical geometry was studied under the assumption that gross groundwater flow is neglected. An analytical solution of the groundwater seepage flow for a confined aquifer was acquired by using the integral transform method, which may provide a foundation for heat transfer analysis of the standing column well system.

Finite element modeling of thermo-active diaphragm walls

There are two major challenges faced by modern society:energy security,and lowering carbon dioxide gas emissions.Thermo-active diaphragm walls have a large potential to remedy one of these problems,since they are a renewable energy technology that uses underground infrastructure as a heat exchange medium.However,extensive research is required to determine the effects of cyclic heating and cooling on their geotechnical and structural performance.In this paper,a series of detailed finite element analyses are carried out to capture the fully coupled thermo-hydro-mechanical response bf the ground and diaphragm wall.It is demonstrated that the thermal operation of the diaphragm wall causes changes in soil temperature,thermal expansion/shrinkage of pore water,and total stress applied on the diaphragm wall.These,in turmn,cause displacements of the diaphragm wall and variations of the bending moments.However,these effects on the performance of diaphragm wall are not significant.The thermally induced bending strain is mainly governed by the temperature differential and uneven thermal expansion/shrinkage across the wall.