Study on thermal performances of a horizontal ground heat exchanger geothermal system with different configurations and arrangements

Journal article (2022)

Authors

Yu Shi Southwest Jiaotong University

Qiliang Cui Southwest Jiaotong University

Xianzhi Song China University of Petroleum - Beijing

Fuqiang Xu China University of Petroleum - Beijing

G. Song China University of Petroleum - Beijing

Affiliation

External organisation

Geothermal energy Thermal performance Geometrical configurations Horizontal ground heat exchanger Tube arrangements

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Published Date

2022

Language

English

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Abstract

Horizontal ground heat exchanger (HGHE) is a low-cost shallow geothermal exploitation method compared with vertical ones, but it needs more land area. Optimizing geometrical configurations and arrangements of ground heat exchangers is desirable to enhance heat exchange per unit land area. However, a comprehensive study on different HGHE configurations and arrangements considering atmosphere-soil-HGHE interaction is still inadequate. To this end, thermal performances of four configurations, including slinky, spiral, multi-tube with serial connection and tiled tubes, are compared based on a 3D numerical model for HGHE considering atmosphere conditions variation and humidity migration. Effects of main geometrical parameters on HGHE performance and economical efficiency are investigated for these four configurations. Finally, different tube arrangements of multi-tube HGHE are designed and their thermal performances are analyzed. Results indicated that longer HGHE tube length has better thermal performance but lower economical efficiency, thus being not advisable for the HGHE design. Among these four configurations, multi-tube with serial connection shows the best thermal performance. Increasing the tube spacing is beneficial for reducing the tube mutual interference and enhance the heat exchange per unit land area, which is recommendable. Results are expected to provide meaningful suggestions for the HGHE design.