Several solutions are currently being tested to improve the thermal efficiency of ground heat exchangers (GHEs) employed in ground source heat pumps. For shallow exchangers, the main effort is towards maximizing the surface available for heat exchange, while reducing the interference among exchangers; popular solutions towards this end are the slinky coil and the radiator shape. Recently, the flat panel has been proposed as novel alternative for horizontal exchangers. In this paper, the performance and impact of the radiator and flat panel installations are compared by solving the transient flow and heat transport problem within the surrounding ground via a numerical finite element model. Adopting the same computational domain, boundary and initial conditions (the latter derived via a preliminary model run in absence of the GHE), and identical specific power outputs, the two installations yield different resulting thermal fields. The flat panel showed a higher capability to affect larger volumes of surrounding ground, so the soil temperatures reached values less extreme than in the radiator case. Since the temperatures remain 23 degrees warmer, a higher power output is expected for the flat panel.

Two horizontal ground heat exchangers in comparison: flat panel vs. radiator

BOTTARELLI, Michele
2011

Abstract

Several solutions are currently being tested to improve the thermal efficiency of ground heat exchangers (GHEs) employed in ground source heat pumps. For shallow exchangers, the main effort is towards maximizing the surface available for heat exchange, while reducing the interference among exchangers; popular solutions towards this end are the slinky coil and the radiator shape. Recently, the flat panel has been proposed as novel alternative for horizontal exchangers. In this paper, the performance and impact of the radiator and flat panel installations are compared by solving the transient flow and heat transport problem within the surrounding ground via a numerical finite element model. Adopting the same computational domain, boundary and initial conditions (the latter derived via a preliminary model run in absence of the GHE), and identical specific power outputs, the two installations yield different resulting thermal fields. The flat panel showed a higher capability to affect larger volumes of surrounding ground, so the soil temperatures reached values less extreme than in the radiator case. Since the temperatures remain 23 degrees warmer, a higher power output is expected for the flat panel.
2011
9788846730725
advanced ground heat exchangers; numerical comparison; unsteady state
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Utilizza questo identificativo per citare o creare un link a questo documento: https://hdl.handle.net/11392/1449315
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