Comparison of the Energy Contributions of Different Types of Ground Heat Exchangers Related to Cost in a Working Ground Source Heat Pump System

Christakis Christou, Iosifina I. Stylianou, Lazaros Aresti, Georgios A. Florides () and Paul Christodoulides
Additional contact information
Christakis Christou: Department of Electrical Engineering, Computer Engineering and Informatics, Cyprus University of Technology, Limassol 3036, Cyprus
Iosifina I. Stylianou: Department of Electrical Engineering, Computer Engineering and Informatics, Cyprus University of Technology, Limassol 3036, Cyprus
Lazaros Aresti: Faculty of Engineering and Technology, Cyprus University of Technology, Limassol 3036, Cyprus
Georgios A. Florides: Faculty of Engineering and Technology, Cyprus University of Technology, Limassol 3036, Cyprus
Paul Christodoulides: Faculty of Engineering and Technology, Cyprus University of Technology, Limassol 3036, Cyprus

Energies, 2024, vol. 17, issue 18, 1-16

Abstract: Geothermal systems face adoption challenges due to their high initial investment cost. Accurate cost analyses and a more precise understanding of updated prices could assist geothermal industry projects in obtaining investment financing and better money management with the right equipment. As the cost of geothermal installations can vary widely depending on case and location, it seems essential to clarify the factors and parameters that determine the cost of the system. These include the type of loop system, the ground conditions, the type of heat pump, the system size, and the geographical location. The scope of this study is to compare the operation of various types of ground heat exchangers (GHEs) present in a Ground Source Heat Pump (GSHP) system installed in the coastal area of the Mediterranean climate zone of Cyprus. The highlight of this work is that it presents real installation cost data as well as recorded total energy contributed by the GHEs to the GSHP system of a HP cooling and heating capacities of 101 kW and 117 kW, respectively. The input contribution from the GHEs to the HP is 85,650 kWh (308,340 MJ) in summer and 25,880 kWh (93,168 MJ) in winter. It is shown that, among the three groups of GHEs investigated, the open-well GHE complex has the lowest cost per kWh ratio (0.32 EUR/kWh), followed by the vertical GHE complex (1.05 EUR/kWh), and lastly by the helical coil GHE (2.77 EUR/kWh). This clearly suggests that when underground water is available, the open-well GHE is much more favorable than other GHE types.

Keywords: ground source heat pump; ground heat exchanger; open well; helicoidal coil (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: 2024
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/1996-1073/17/18/4621/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/1996-1073/17/18/4621/ (text/html)

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:gam:jeners:v:17:y:2024:i:18:p:4621-:d:1478515

Access Statistics for this article

Energies is currently edited by Ms. Agatha Cao

More articles in Energies from MDPI
Bibliographic data for series maintained by MDPI Indexing Manager ().