On the Influence of Operational and Control Parameters in Thermal Response Testing of Borehole Heat Exchangers

Borja Badenes, Miguel Ángel Mateo Pla, Lenin G. Lemus-Zúñiga, Begoña Sáiz Mauleón and Javier F. Urchueguía
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Borja Badenes: Instituto de Aplicaciones de las Comunicaciones Avanzadas (ITACA), Universitat Politècnica de València, Camino de Vera S/N, 46022 Valencia, Spain
Miguel Ángel Mateo Pla: Instituto de Aplicaciones de las Comunicaciones Avanzadas (ITACA), Universitat Politècnica de València, Camino de Vera S/N, 46022 Valencia, Spain
Lenin G. Lemus-Zúñiga: Instituto de Aplicaciones de las Comunicaciones Avanzadas (ITACA), Universitat Politècnica de València, Camino de Vera S/N, 46022 Valencia, Spain
Begoña Sáiz Mauleón: Escuela Técnica Superior de Ingeniería del Diseño (ETSID), Universitat Politècnica de València, Camino de Vera S/N, 46022 Valencia, Spain
Javier F. Urchueguía: Instituto de Aplicaciones de las Comunicaciones Avanzadas (ITACA), Universitat Politècnica de València, Camino de Vera S/N, 46022 Valencia, Spain

Energies, 2017, vol. 10, issue 9, 1-15

Abstract: Thermal response test (TRT) is a common procedure for characterization of ground and borehole thermal properties needed for the design of a shallow geothermal heat pump system. In order to investigate and to develop more accurate and robust procedures for TRT control, modelling, and evaluation in semi-permeable soils with large water content, a pilot borehole heat exchanger was built in the main campus of the Universitat Politècnica de València. The present work shows the results of the experiments performed at the site, analysing the improvements that have been introduced both in the control of the heat injected during TRTs and in the methods to infer the ground thermal parameter. Three models are compared: two based on the infinite-line source theory and one based on the finite-line source scheme. The models were tested under two possible configurations of the equipment, i.e., with and without strict control of injected heat. Our results show the importance of heat injection control for a robust parameter assessment and the existence of additional heat transfer processes that the used models cannot completely characterize and that are related to the presence of significant groundwater flow at the site. In addition, our experience with the current installation and the knowledge about its strengths and weaknesses have allowed us to design a new and more complete test-site to help in the analysis and validation of new ground heat exchanger geometries.

Keywords: borehole heat exchanger; thermal response test (TRT); ground-source heat pump; infinite line-source model; finite line-source model (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q Q0 Q4 Q40 Q41 Q42 Q43 Q47 Q48 Q49 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2017
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (15)

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