Experimental and numerical studies on the performance of horizontal U-type and spiral-coil-type ground heat exchangers considering economic aspects

Ba Huu Dinh, Young-Sang Kim and Seok Yoon

Renewable Energy, 2022, vol. 186, issue C, 505-516

Abstract: The benefits of the use of horizontal U-type and spiral-coil-type ground heat exchangers (GHE) were investigated and compared based on heat transfer performance and economic analysis. The feasibility of a novel backfill material (controlled low-strength material) for a horizontal ground heat exchanger was also assessed. A numerical analysis model was developed to simulate the heat transfer in a horizontal ground source heat exchanger and calculate the annual heat exchange using 100 case studies with different GHE types, backfill materials, fluid velocities, and installation depths. A thermal response test was conducted using a spiral-coil GHE backfilled with sand and a controlled low-strength material to validate the numerical model. The economic feasibility of each case was investigated using analytical tools including the annual heat exchange, payback period, and internal rate of return. The results indicate that, although a spiral-coil-type GHE has 30% higher total initial installation costs, its high annual heat exchange (twice that of U-type) results in a shorter payback period (12.7 years compared with 8.4 years for U-type) and a higher internal rate of return (12.0% compared with 6.9% for U-type). The use of a controlled low-strength material leads to a slight increase in the initial investment; however, as expected, its high heat exchange capacity shows better long-term economic performance than a ground heat exchanger backfilled with normal soil.

Keywords: Horizontal ground heat exchanger; U-type; Spiral-coil-type; Heat performance evaluation; Economic analysis (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (3)

Downloads: (external link)
http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0960148122000015
Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:renene:v:186:y:2022:i:c:p:505-516

DOI: 10.1016/j.renene.2022.01.001

Access Statistics for this article

Renewable Energy is currently edited by Soteris A. Kalogirou and Paul Christodoulides

More articles in Renewable Energy from Elsevier
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Catherine Liu ().