Long-Term Performance of Heat Exchanger Boreholes at Different Climatic Conditions
Abstract
Ground-source heat pump systems consist of heat exchanger boreholes, embedded with circulation pipes, buried in the ground and connected to a heat pump for heating and cooling of buildings. Due to the changes in seasonal energy demands of the building, sustainability of borehole heat exchangers depends on the seasonal load balance. As the soil can be gradually heated up or cooled down considering the unbalanced thermal loads, long-term performance of heat exchanger boreholes is closely related to maintaining a constant ground temperature as progressively changing temperatures indicate loss of heat exchange efficiency in the long term. In order to address the long-term thermal performance for different unbalanced climatic conditions, ground thermal loads were estimated and representative equivalent half-sine waves of thermal loads from a hypothetical four floor medium size office building are created for 100+ different locations. Total required heat exchanger lengths for each location are then estimated for the proposed building. Findings suggest that for different seasonal energy demands, amplitudes and durations of the sine waves change significantly, consequently suggesting different loop lengths. For unbalanced climates, loop lengths found are considerably higher than balanced cases. Ultimately, numerical analyses were simulated for 30 years of heat exchanger operation to investigate the thermal performance under different climatic conditions.
Recommended Citation
C. G. Olgun et al., "Long-Term Performance of Heat Exchanger Boreholes at Different Climatic Conditions," Geotechnical Special Publication, vol. GSP 280, pp. 153 - 164, American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE), Mar 2017.
The definitive version is available at https://doi.org/10.1061/9780784480472.016
Meeting Name
Geotechnical Frontiers 2017 (2017: Mar. 12-15, Orlando, FL)
Department(s)
Civil, Architectural and Environmental Engineering
Keywords and Phrases
Boreholes; Cooling Systems; Embedded Systems; Heat Exchangers; Heat Pump Systems; Office Buildings; Thermal Load, Borehole Heat Exchangers; Changing Temperature; Climatic Conditions; Ground Temperature; Heat Exchange Efficiency; Heating And Cooling Of Buildings; Long Term Performance; Thermal Performance, Geothermal Heat Pumps
International Standard Serial Number (ISSN)
0895-0563
Document Type
Article - Conference proceedings
Document Version
Citation
File Type
text
Language(s)
English
Rights
© 2017 American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE), All rights reserved.
Publication Date
01 Mar 2017
