Full-Scale Demonstration of Combined Ground Source Heating and Sustainable Urban Drainage in Roadbeds

Søren Erbs Poulsen, Theis Raaschou Andersen and Karl Woldum Tordrup
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Søren Erbs Poulsen: R&D Centre for the Built Environment, Energy, Water and Climate, VIA University College, 8700 Horsens, Denmark
Theis Raaschou Andersen: R&D Centre for the Built Environment, Energy, Water and Climate, VIA University College, 8700 Horsens, Denmark
Karl Woldum Tordrup: R&D Centre for the Built Environment, Energy, Water and Climate, VIA University College, 8700 Horsens, Denmark

Energies, 2022, vol. 15, issue 12, 1-21

Abstract: This paper proposes and demonstrates, in full scale, a novel type of energy geostructure (“the Climate Road”) that combines a ground-source heat pump (GSHP) with a sustainable urban drainage system (SUDS) by utilizing the gravel roadbed simultaneously as an energy source and a rainwater retarding basin. The Climate Road measures 50 m × 8 m × 1 m (length, width, depth, respectively) and has 800 m of geothermal piping embedded in the roadbed, serving as the heat collector for a GSHP that supplies a nearby kindergarten with domestic hot water and space heating. Model analysis of operational data from 2018–2021 indicates sustainable annual heat production levels of around 0.6 MWh per meter road, with a COP of 2.9–3.1. The continued infiltration of rainwater into the roadbed increases the amount of extractable heat by an estimated 17% compared to the case of zero infiltration. Using the developed model for scenario analysis, we find that draining rainwater from three single-family houses and storing 30% of the annual heating consumption in the roadbed increases the predicted extractable energy by 56% compared to zero infiltration with no seasonal energy storage. The Climate Road is capable of supplying three new single-family houses with heating, cooling, and rainwater management year-round.

Keywords: energy geostructure; ground-source heat pump (GSHP); sustainable urban drainage system (SUDS); sector integration; 5th-generation district heating and cooling; permeable asphalt; rainwater retardation; full-scale demonstration; numerical modelling; analytical modelling (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: 2022
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (2)

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