scholarly journals A Numerical Study on the Performance of Ground Heat Exchanger Buried in Fractured Rock Bodies

Energies ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 13 (7) ◽  
pp. 1647
Author(s):  
Weisong Zhou ◽  
Peng Pei ◽  
Dingyi Hao ◽  
Chen Wang

The ground source heat pump (GSHP) is receiving increasing attention due to the global trend of energy-saving and emission reduction. However, projects with ground heat exchangers (GHEs) buried in fractured rock bodies are scarce, and the impacts of water flow in fractures on the system performance are short of detailed investigations. In this paper, a three-dimensional model was built to study the temperature distribution underground and the relative performance of heat pumps and GHEs influenced by groundwater flow in fractures. Three factors including fluid flow velocities in fractures, the number of fractures and the distributions of fractures were taken into consideration, a range of indicators including outlet temperature of GHEs, mean temperature of “Energy Storage Rock Body” (ESRB) and heat injection rate per unit length were examined. It was found that the heat injection rate per unit length of a U-pipe in fractured rock body could be up to 78.83% higher than that of a U-pipe in integrated rock. Likewise, the coefficient of performance of cases with fractures was identified to be up to 4.50% higher than the integrated rock case. In addition, differently distributed fractures also have different impacts on the heat transfer efficiency of heat pumps and GHEs.

2009 ◽  
Vol 20 (4) ◽  
pp. 517-532 ◽  
Author(s):  
Guozhong Zheng ◽  
Youyin Jing

Water source heat pumps have outstanding advantages: significant energy conservation, working stability and notable pollution reduction. In this paper, the benefits and features of the water source heat pump are described. Then the methodology for studying the thermodynamics performance in variant conditions is described and the thermodynamics analysis of a specific water source heat pump is presented based on the first law of thermodynamics and exergy analysis theory to study the thermodynamics performance in variant condition. Coefficient of Performance (COP) and exergy efficiency in variant operating condition are calculated. The relation of COP and exergy efficiency with the outlet temperature of the chilled water and the inlet temperature of the cooling water are respectively studied. The operating strategies of both summer and winter condition are then concluded. Finally, the thermodynamics performance of the water source heat pump is compared with the other common refrigerating and heating equipments. It is concluded that the water source heat pump has great advantage over others in terms of energy saving. It is expected that the study would be beneficial to the researchers and engineers.


Energies ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 14 (1) ◽  
pp. 137
Author(s):  
Florian Schlosser ◽  
Heinrich Wiebe ◽  
Timothy G. Walmsley ◽  
Martin J. Atkins ◽  
Michael R. W. Walmsley ◽  
...  

Heat pumps are the key technology to decarbonise thermal processes by upgrading industrial surplus heat using renewable electricity. Existing insight-based integration methods refer to the idealised Grand Composite Curve requiring the full exploitation of heat recovery potential but leave the question of how to deal with technical or economic limitations unanswered. In this work, a novel Heat Pump Bridge Analysis (HPBA) is introduced for practically targeting technical and economic heat pump potential by applying Coefficient of Performance curves into the Modified Energy Transfer Diagram (METD). Removing cross-Pinch violations and operating heat exchangers at minimum approach temperatures by combined application of Bridge Analysis increases the heat recovery rate and reduce the temperature lift to be pumped at the same time. The insight-based METD allows the individual matching of heat surpluses and deficits of individual streams with the capabilities and performance of different market-available heat pump concepts. For an illustrative example, the presented modifications based on HPBA increase the economically viable share of the technical heat pump potential from 61% to 79%.


Energies ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 14 (15) ◽  
pp. 4507
Author(s):  
Paolo Maria Congedo ◽  
Cristina Baglivo ◽  
Giulia Negro

This work proposes a new device for air treatment with dehumidification and water recovery/storage, with possible mitigation of indoor environmental conditions. The system is based on Peltier cells coupled with a horizontal earth-to-air heat exchanger, it is proposed as an easy-to-implement alternative to the heat pumps and air handling units currently used on the market, in terms of cost, ease of installation, and maintenance. The process provides the water collection from the cooling of warm-humid air through a process that leads to condensation and water vapor separation. The airflow generated by a fan splits into two dual flows that lap the two surfaces of the Peltier cells, one flow laps the cold surfaces undergoing sensible, latent cooling with dehumidification; the other flow laps the hot surfaces and heats up. The airflow undergoes thermal pre-treatment through the underground horizontal geothermal pipe that precedes the Peltier cells. In the water storage tank, which also works as a mixing chamber, the two air streams are mixed to regulate the outlet temperature. The system can be stand-alone if equipped with a photovoltaic panel and a micro wind turbine, able to be used in places where electricity is absent. The system, with different configurations, is modeled in the African city Kigali, in Rwanda.


Energies ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 14 (6) ◽  
pp. 1576
Author(s):  
Piotr Jadwiszczak ◽  
Jakub Jurasz ◽  
Bartosz Kaźmierczak ◽  
Elżbieta Niemierka ◽  
Wandong Zheng

Heating and cooling sectors contribute to approximately 50% of energy consumption in the European Union. Considering the fact that heating is mostly based on fossil fuels, it is then evident that its decarbonization is one of the crucial tasks for achieving climate change prevention goals. At the same time, electricity sectors across the globe are undergoing a rapid transformation in order to accommodate the growing capacities of non-dispatchable solar and wind generators. One of the proposed solutions to achieve heating sector decarbonization and non-dispatchable generators power system integration is sector coupling, where heat pumps are perceived as a perfect fit. Air source heat pumps enable a rapid improvement in local air quality by replacing conventional heating sources, but at the same time, they put additional stress on the power system. The emissions associated with heat pump operation are a combination of power system energy mix, weather conditions and heat pump technology. Taking the above into consideration, this paper presents an approach to estimate which of the mentioned factors has the highest impact on heat pump emissions. Due to low air quality during the heating season, undergoing a power system transformation (with a relatively low share of renewables) in a case study located in Poland is considered. The results of the conducted analysis revealed that for a scenario where an air-to-water (A/W) heat pump is supposed to cover space and domestic hot water load, its CO2 emissions are shaped by country-specific energy mix (55.2%), heat pump technology (coefficient of performance) (33.9%) and, to a lesser extent, by changing climate (10.9%). The outcome of this paper can be used by policy makers in designing decarbonization strategies and funding distribution.


Energies ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 14 (14) ◽  
pp. 4301
Author(s):  
Yassir A. Alamri ◽  
Saad Mahmoud ◽  
Raya Al-Dadah ◽  
Shivangi Sharma ◽  
J. N. Roy ◽  
...  

This paper investigates the potential of a new integrated solar concentrated photovoltaic (CPV) system that uses a solo point focus Fresnel lens for multiple multi-junction solar cells (MJSCs). The proposed system comprises of an FL concentrator as the primary optical element, a multi-leg homogeniser as the secondary optical element (SOE), a plano-concave lens, and four MJSCs. A three-dimensional model of this system was developed using the ray tracing method to predict the influence of aperture width, height, and position with respect to MJSCs of different reflective and refractive SOE on the overall optical efficiency of the system and the irradiance uniformity achieved on the MJSCs’ surfaces. The results show that the refractive homogeniser using N-BK7 glass can achieve higher optical efficiency (79%) compared to the reflective homogeniser (57.5%). In addition, the peak to average ratio of illumination at MJSCs for the reflective homogeniser ranges from 1.07 to 1.14, while for the refractive homogeniser, it ranges from 1.06 to 1.34, causing minimum effects on the electrical performance of the MJSCs. The novelty of this paper is the development of a high concentration CPV system that integrates multiple MJSCs with a uniform distribution of rays, unlike the conventional CPV systems that utilise a single concentrator onto a single MJSC. The optical efficiency of the CPV system was also examined using both the types of homogeniser (reflective and refractive).


Energies ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 13 (11) ◽  
pp. 2918
Author(s):  
Liang Zhang ◽  
Songhe Geng ◽  
Jun Kang ◽  
Jiahao Chao ◽  
Linchao Yang ◽  
...  

Self-circulation wellbore is a new technique for geothermal development in hot dry rocks (HDR), which uses a U-shape channel composed of tubing and casing as the heat exchanger. In this study, a self-circulation wellbore in HDR on a laboratory scale was built, and a serial of experiments were conducted to investigate the heat exchange law and the influencing factors on the heat mining rate of the wellbore. A similarity analysis was also made to estimate the heat-mining capacity of the wellbore on a field scale. The experimental results show that the large thermal conductivity and heat capacity of granite with high temperature can contribute to a large heat-mining rate. A high injection rate can cause a high convective heat transfer coefficient in wellbore, while a balance is needed between the heat mining rate and the outlet temperature. An inner tubing with low thermal conductivity can significantly reduce the heat loss to the casing annulus. The similarity analysis indicates that a heat mining rate of 1.25 MW can be reached when using a 2000 m long horizontal well section in a 150 °C HDR reservoir with a circulation rate of 602.8 m3/day. This result is well corresponding to the published data.


Energies ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 13 (17) ◽  
pp. 4360
Author(s):  
Umar Nawaz Bhatti ◽  
Salem Bashmal ◽  
Sikandar Khan ◽  
Rached Ben-Mansour

Thermoacoustic refrigerators have huge potential to replace conventional refrigeration systems as an alternative clean refrigeration technology. These devices utilize conversion of acoustic power and heat energy to generate the desired cooling. The stack plays a pivotal role in the performance of Standing Wave Thermoacoustic Refrigerators (SWTARs), as the heat transfer takes place across it. Performance of stacks can be significantly improved by making an arrangement of different materials inside the stack, resulting in anisotropic thermal properties along the length. In the present numerical study, the effect of multi-layered stack on the refrigeration performance of a SWTAR has been evaluated in terms of temperature drop across the stack, acoustic power consumed and device Coefficient of Performance (COP). Two different aspects of multi-layered stack, namely, different material combinations and different lengths of stacked layers, have been investigated. The combinations of four stack materials and length ratios have been investigated. The numerical results showed that multi-layered stacks produce lower refrigeration temperatures, consume less energy and have higher COP value than their homogeneous counterparts. Among all the material combinations of multi-layered stack investigated, stacks composed of a material layer with low thermal conductivity at the ends, i.e., RVC, produced the best performance with an increase of 26.14% in temperature drop value, reduction in the acoustic power consumption by 4.55% and COP enhancement of 5.12%. The results also showed that, for a constant overall length, an increase in length of side stacked material layer results in an increase in values of both temperature drop and COP.


2013 ◽  
Vol 805-806 ◽  
pp. 645-648
Author(s):  
Wei Xiu Shi ◽  
Li Sheng Pan

Under the situation of energy crisis, air source heat pumps are paid more attention recently. In order to save energy, the feasibility and performance of air source heat pump are studied by experiment, and variation laws of exhaust temperature, evaporator outlet temperature and outlet presser of compressor were analyzed in this paper. Air source heat pump apparatus were set up and the experiment was during 10°C, 20°C, 30°C and 40°C. The results were as follows: exhaust temperature of compressor increases gradually with the increase of tank temperature, but the temperature difference between exhaust temperature of compressor and tank temperature becomes little; temperature difference in evaporator decreases; Compressor outlet pressure increases obviously.


Author(s):  
Leon M. Headings ◽  
Gregory N. Washington

The goal of this research is to develop a framework for replacing conventional heating and cooling systems with distributed, continuously and electrically controlled, building-integrated thermoelectric (BITE) heat pumps. The coefficient of performance of thermoelectric heat pumps increases as the temperature difference across them decreases and as the amplitude of temperature oscillations decreases. As a result, this research examines how thermal insulation and mass elements can be integrated with thermoelectrics as part of active multi-layer structures in order to minimize net energy consumption. In order to develop BITE systems, an explicit finite volume model was developed to model the dynamic thermal response of active multi-layer wall structures subjected to arbitrary boundary conditions (interior and exterior temperatures and interior heat loads) and control algorithms. Using this numerical model, the effects of wall construction on net system performance were examined. These simulation results provide direction for the ongoing development of BITE systems.


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