Proposition of Design Capacity of Borehole Heat Exchangers for Use in the Schematic-Design Stage

Seung-Min Lee, Seung-Hoon Park, Yong-Sung Jang and Eui-Jong Kim
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Seung-Min Lee: Department of Architectural Engineering, Inha University, Incheon 22212, Korea
Seung-Hoon Park: Department of Architectural Engineering, Inha University, Incheon 22212, Korea
Yong-Sung Jang: GS E&C Research Institute, Yongin 17130, Korea
Eui-Jong Kim: Department of Architectural Engineering, Inha University, Incheon 22212, Korea

Energies, 2021, vol. 14, issue 4, 1-17

Abstract: This study proposes a simple ground heat exchanger design capacity that is applicable in the schematic-design stage for several configurations used for borehole heat exchangers (BHEs). Three configurations—single, compact, and irregular types—were selected, and the heat transfer rate per unit BHE was calculated considering heat interference. In a case study with a typical configuration and general range of ground thermal conductivity, the BHE heat transfer rate of the compact configuration decreased owing to heat interference as the number of BHEs increased. However, with respect to the irregular configuration, the heat transfer rate increased as the same number increased. This was attributed to the relatively large increment rate of the distance between the boreholes in the irregular configurations, making the heat recovery factor more dominant than the heat interference. The results show that the average heat transfer rate values per BHE applicable to each configuration type in the schematic-design stage were 12.1 kW for the single configuration, 5.8 kW for the compact type, and 10.3 kW for the irregular configuration. However, owing to the large range of results for each case study, the error needs to be reduced by maximally utilizing the information available at the schematic-design stage.

Keywords: bore field configuration; borehole heat exchanger; ground-coupled heat pump; preliminary design (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: 2021
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (5)

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