scholarly journals Geothermal air conditioning: typical applications using deep-warm and shallow-cool reservoirs for cooling in Perth, Western Australia

Author(s):  
Peter B. Whittaker ◽  
Xiaolin Wang ◽  
Klaus Regenauer-Lieb ◽  
David Blair ◽  
Hui Tong Chua

Geothermal heat is a sustainable form of alternative energy, commonly associated with the production of electricity along tectonic plate boundaries and in volcanically active zones. Outside of these special regions however it is rare to find a geothermal gradient high enough to achieve pay back on projects for generating electricity. On the other hand regions containing sedimentary aquifers are far more common and these aquifers frequently have a sufficiently high temperature gradient to make direct use of the thermal energy attractive. Meanwhile highly permeable aquifers occurring at shallow depths are possible sources for cooling water or can be both heat sources and sinks when used in combination with heat pumps. We provide a case study for the use of thermally driven absorption chillers on the University of Western Australia campus in Perth and discuss two ongoing projects: one for the heating and cooling of the offices of the Australian Resources Research Council using a reversible heat pump and the other the climate control of the planned Australian International Gravitational Observatory.

Author(s):  
Xinli Lu ◽  
David R. Larson ◽  
Thomas R. Holm

Groundwater source heat pumps exploit the difference between the ground surface temperature and the nearly constant temperature of shallow groundwater. This project characterizes two areas for geothermal heating and cooling potential, Mason County in central Illinois and the American Bottoms area in southwestern Illinois. Both areas are underlain by thick sand and gravel aquifers and groundwater is readily available. Weather data, including monthly high and low temperatures and heating and cooling degree days, were compiled for both study areas. The heating and cooling requirements for a single-family house were estimated using two independent models that use weather data as input. The groundwater flow rates needed to meet these heating and cooling requirements were calculated using typical heat pump coefficient of performance values. The groundwater in both study areas has fairly high hardness and iron concentrations and is close to saturation with calcium and iron carbonates. Using the groundwater for cooling may induce the deposition of scale containing one or both of these minerals.


Author(s):  
Birol I. Kilkis

Effective utilization of low-enthalpy energy resources in heating, ventilating, and air-conditioning (HVAC) of sustainable buildings require a careful optimization to assure the most economical coupling of HVAC systems with low-enthalpy energy resources. In one of the two separate prior studies an optimization algorithm for the optimal coupling of heat pumps and radiant panel heating and cooling systems was developed. In the second prior study an optimization algorithm for driving ground source heat pumps with wind turbines was developed. In this study these two algorithms were combined for a compound utilization of alternative energy resources. This paper describes the optimization algorithms, emphasizes their importance in achieving a cost effective combined application, and discusses the results obtained from the examples given.


2019 ◽  
Vol 3 (2) ◽  

In the recent attempts to stimulate alternative energy sources for heating and cooling of buildings, emphasise has been put on utilisation of the ambient energy from ground source heat pump systems (GSHPs) and other renewable energy sources. Exploitation of renewable energy sources and particularly ground heat in buildings can significantly contribute towards reducing dependency on fossil fuels. The study was carried out at the Energy Research Institute (ERI), between September 2016 and November 2017. This paper highlights the potential energy saving that could be achieved through use of ground energy source. The main concept of this technology is that it uses the lower temperature of the ground (approximately <32°C), which remains relatively stable throughout the year, to provide space heating, cooling and domestic hot water inside the building area. The purpose of this study, however, is to examine the means of reducing of energy consumption in buildings, identifying GSHPs as an environmental friendly technology able to provide efficient utilisation of energy in the buildings sector, promoting the use of GSHPs applications as an optimum means of heating and cooling, and presenting typical applications and recent advances of the DX GSHPs. It is concluded that the direct expansion of GSHP are extendable to more comprehensive applications combined with the ground heat exchanger in foundation piles and the seasonal thermal energy storage from solar thermal collectors. This study highlights the energy problem and the possible saving that can be achieved through the use of the GSHP systems. This article discusses the principle of the ground source energy, varieties of GSHPs, and various developments.


2013 ◽  
Vol 2013 ◽  
pp. 1-6 ◽  
Author(s):  
Silvia Cocchi ◽  
Sonia Castellucci ◽  
Andrea Tucci

The need to address climate change caused by greenhouse gas emissions attaches great importance to research aimed at using renewable energy. Geothermal energy is an interesting alternative concerning the production of energy for air conditioning of buildings (heating and cooling), through the use of geothermal heat pumps. In this work a model has been developed in order to simulate an air conditioning system with geothermal heat pump. A ground source heat pump (GSHP) uses the shallow ground as a source of heat, thus taking advantage of its seasonally moderate temperatures. GSHP must be coupled with geothermal exchangers. The model leads to design optimization of geothermal heat exchangers and to verify the operation of the geothermal plant.


2017 ◽  
Vol 27 (6) ◽  
pp. 805-817 ◽  
Author(s):  
Byung C. Kwag ◽  
Moncef Krarti

Ground medium can be utilized as a direct energy source to heat and cool buildings. In particular, ground source heat pump systems take advantage of the year-round mild deep earth temperature without a significant reliance on any external energy sources. However, the high installation cost of ground source heat pumps associated with high drilling cost of vertical boreholes often make these systems less cost-effective compared to conventional heating and cooling systems. Thermo-active foundations can be a viable solution to reduce ground source heat pump high installation costs by embedding heat exchangers within building foundation structures. Compared to ground source heat pumps, only limited analyses and research studies have been reported for thermo-active foundations especially for the US climates. In particular, no specific design guidelines have been reported for thermo-active foundations especially for US climates. In this paper, a simplified design approach was developed and applied for specifying geothermal heat pump size and heat exchanger loop length to meet all or part of building heat and cooling thermal loads. The developed guidelines would thus provide a proper design guide for installation of thermo-active foundations for heating and cooling of both US residential and commercial buildings.


Author(s):  
Nazar F. Antwan ◽  
Iyd E. Maree

Geothermal heat pumps with ground source heat exchangers have been widely used for heating and cooling homes as well as for domestic water heating. A study on a small house in Erbil-Iraq was conducted to assess energy savings when using GHPs with closed loop ground source heat exchangers as compared with air-to-air heat pumps. Local climate conditions and soil properties of Erbil located in the north of Iraq were used. The simulation was performed using TRNSYS-16 software. The results of this study show that we can reduce the energy used for heating and cooling by 39% during annual when using GHP. The simulation also showed that the average COP for heating is 2.9 and for cooling is 2.6 when using air to air heat pumps and the average COP for heating is 5.6 and 3.6 for cooling when using GHP. This reduction in energy reduces the CO2 emission as it reduces energy consumption.


2015 ◽  
Vol 19 (3) ◽  
pp. 857-864 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ana Vranjes ◽  
Dejan Milenic ◽  
Petar Dokmanovic

New Belgrade is a highly urbanized commercial and residential district of Belgrade lying on the alluvial plane of the Sava and the Danube rivers. The groundwater of the area is a geothermal resource that is usable through geothermal heat pumps (GHP). The research has shown that the ?heat island effect? affects part of the alluvial groundwater with the average groundwater temperature of about 15.5?C, i.e. 2?C higher than the one in less urbanized surroundings. Based on the measured groundwater temperatures as well as the appraisal of the sustainable aquifer yield, the available thermal power of the resource is estimated to about 29MWt. The increasing urbanization trend of the New Belgrade district implies the growing energy demands that may partly be met by the available groundwater thermal power. Taking into consideration the average apartment consumption of 80 Wm-2, it is possible to heat about 360,000 m2 and with the consumption efficiency of 50 Wm-2, it would be possible to heat over 570,000 m2. Environmental and financial aspects were considered through the substitution of conventional fuels and the reduction of greenhouse gas emission as well as through the optimization of the resource use.


2017 ◽  
Vol 25 (03) ◽  
pp. 1750024 ◽  
Author(s):  
Samuel Boahen ◽  
Kwang Ho Lee ◽  
Soolyeon Cho ◽  
Jong Min Choi

Heating and cooling systems contribute greatly to the energy consumption and CO2 emissions of many countries. Ground source heat pumps (GSHP) are promising energy saving systems for residential, commercial or industrial heating or cooling purposes. A method to estimate the energy consumption and CO2 emission of GSHPs is therefore very eminent. This paper reviews the methodology to calculate the energy consumption and CO2 emission of GSHPs. The discussed methodology is then used to compare the energy consumption and CO2 emission of an open-loop and closed-loop GSHP using data from field test. It is observed that the open-loop GSHP saves 28% energy and reduces CO2 by 28% than the closed-loop GSHP in the cooling season. When used for both cooling and heating purposes in the year, the open-loop GSHP saves about 6% energy and reduces about 6% of CO2 emission than the closed-loop GSHP.


2019 ◽  
Vol 261 ◽  
pp. 04003
Author(s):  
Shawki Mazloum ◽  
Sary Awad ◽  
Youssef Abou Msallem ◽  
Nadine Allam ◽  
Khaled Loubar ◽  
...  

Plastic Pyrolysis is a thermal degradation process; it offers an important alternative energy. The aim of this study is to model a batch reactor to be used for plastic pyrolysis. Consequently, four experiments with different heating and cooling cycles are done using an empty pyrolysis batch reactor and four temperatures are measured at different locations on the reactor. On the other hand, the empty reactor is modeled and several simulations are done, using COMSOL Multiphysics software, under the same experimental conditions. By comparing the temperatures obtained from simulation to those measured experimentally, it is noticed that the results are very close with a maximum error of 4%, hence the model is validated.


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