• Proceedings of the SAREK Conference
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• 2008.06a
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• pp.776-781
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• 2008

A ground heat exchanger in a GSHP system is an important unit that determines the thermal performance of a system and its initial cost. The Size and performance of this heat exchanger is highly dependent on the thermal properties. A proper design requires certain site-specific parameters, most importantly the ground effective thermal conductivity, the borehole thermal resistance and the undisturbed ground temperature. This paper is part of a research project aiming at constructing a database of these site-specific properties, especially ground effective thermal conductivity. The objective was to develop and evaluation method, and to provide this knowledge to design engineers. To achieve these goals, thermal response tests were conducted using a testing device at nearly 150 locations in Korea. The in-situ thermal response is the temperature development over time when a known heating load imposed, e.g. by circulating a heat carrier fluid through the test exchangers. The line-source model was then applied to the response test data because of its simplicity. From the data analysis, the range of ground effective thermal conductivity at various sites is $1.5{\sim}4.0\;W$/mK. The results also show that the ground effective thermal conductivity varies with grouting materials as well as regional geological conditions and groundwater flow.

• Korean Journal of Air-Conditioning and Refrigeration Engineering
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• v.27 no.1
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• pp.31-38
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• 2015

Geothermal heat pump (GHP) systems have become an efficient alternative to conventional cooling and heating methods due to their higher energy using efficiency. These systems use the ground as a heat source in heating mode operation and a heat sink in cooling mode operation. The aim of this study is to evaluate the heating performance of the GHP system for a residential building ($420m^2$) in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia. In order to demonstrate the feasibility of a sustainable performance of this system, we installed the water-to-water geothermal heat pump with ten vertical ground heat exchangers and measured operation parameters from October 19, 2013 to March 26, 2014. The results showed that the entering source temperature of brine from the ground heat exchangers was in a range of the design target temperature of $-10^{\circ}C$ for heating. For total values of the representative results, the ground heat exchangers extracted heat of 53.51 MWh from the ground. In addition, the GHP system supplied heat of 83.55 MWh to the building and consumed power of 30.27 MWh. Consequently, the average heating seasonal performance factor ($SPF_h$) of the overall system was evaluated to be 2.76 during the measurement period of the heating season.

• New & Renewable Energy
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• v.3 no.4
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• pp.38-46
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• 2007

In order to characterize the thermal conductivity and viscosity of grout materials used for backfilling ground heat exchangers, nine bentonite grouts and cement grouts being adapted in the United State have been considered in this study. The bentonite grouts indicate that the thermal conductivity and viscosity increase with the content of bentonite or filler (silica sand). In addition, material segregation can be observed when the viscosity of grout is relatively low. The saturated cement grouts appear to possess much higher thermal conductivity than the saturated bentonite grouts, and the reduction of thermal conductivity in the cement grouts after drying specimens is less than the case of the bentonite grouts. Maintaining the moisture content of grouts is a crucial factor in enhancing the efficiency of ground heat exchangers.

• 한국신재생에너지학회:학술대회논문집
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• 2007.11a
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• pp.529-532
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• 2007

In order to characterize the thermal conductivity and viscosity of grout materials used for backfilling ground heat exchangers, nine bentonite grouts and cement grouts being adapted in the United State have been considered in this study. The bentonite grouts indicate that the thermal conductivity and viscosity increase with the content of bentonite or filler (silica sand). In addition, material segregation can be observed when the viscosity of grout is relatively low. The saturated cement grouts appear to possess much higher thermal conductivity than the saturated bentonite grouts, and the reduction of thermal conductivity in the cement grouts after drying specimens is less than in case of the bentonite grouts. Maintaining the moisture content of grouts is a crucial factor in enhancing the efficiency of ground heat exchangers.

• Journal of the Korean Society for Geothermal and Hydrothermal Energy
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• v.8 no.4
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• pp.32-40
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• 2012

Geothermal heat pump(GHP) systems use vertical borehole heat exchangers to transfer heat to and from the surrounding ground via a heat carrier fluid that circulates between the borehole and the heat pump. An Important feature associated with design parameters and system performance is the local thermal resistances between the heat carrier flow channels in the borehole and the surrounding ground. This paper deals with the in-situ experimental determination of the effective thermal properties of the ground. The recorded thermal responses together with the line-source theory are used to determine the thermal conductivity and thermal diffusivity, and the steady-state borehole thermal resistance. In addition, this paper compares the experimental borehole resistance with the results from the different empirical and theoretical relations to evaluate this resistance. Further, the performance simulation of a GHP system with vertical borehole heat exchangers was conducted to analyze the effect of the borehole thermal resistance on the system performance.

• 한국신재생에너지학회:학술대회논문집
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• 2007.06a
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• pp.466-469
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• 2007

Heat pumps are used for air-conditioning systems in commercial buildings, schools, and factories because of low operating and maintenance costs. These systems use the earth as a heat source in heating mode and a heat sink in cooling mode. Ground heat exchangers are classified by a horizontal type and vertical type according to the installation method. A horizontal type means that a heat exchanger is laid in the trench bored in 1.2 to 1.8 m depth. And a vertical type is usually constructed by placing small diameter high density polyethylene tube in a vertical borehole. Vertical tube sizes range from 20 to 40 mm nominal diameter. Borehole depth range between 100 and 200 m depending on local drilling conditions and available equipment. In this study, to evaluate the performance of single u-tube with bentonite grouting, single u-tube with broken stone grouting and double n-tube bentonite grouting of vertical ground heat exchangers, test sections are buried on the earth and experimental apparatus is installed. Therefore the heat transfer performance and pressure loss of these are estimated.

• Proceedings of the SAREK Conference
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• 2006.06a
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• pp.707-712
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• 2006

Knowing the ground thermal conductivity is very importnat in designing ground heat exchangers. Knowledge of the ground soil and rock composition information dose not guarantee the prediction of accurate thermal information. In Situ testing of ground heat exchangers is becoming popular. However, in situ testing are performed at construction sites in real life. Adequate data collection and analysis are not easy mainly due to poor power quality. Power fluctuation also causes the fluctuation of received data. The power quality must be maintained during the entire in situ testing processes. To accurately analyse the test data, the understanding of the response of the power fluctuation is essential. Testing under the power quality varied by tester is very difficult. Analyzing power variation by numerical simulation is a realistic option. By varying power in a sinosuidal manner, its effects on predicting thermal conductivity from thermal response plots made from the test data are examined.

• Journal of the Korean Society for Geothermal and Hydrothermal Energy
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• v.10 no.1
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• pp.14-19
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• 2014

This paper presents a preliminary experimental and computational study on the evaluation of thermal performance and initial cost of U, W and coil type ground heat exchangers (GHEs). Heat exchange rate of the individual GHE was evaluated from the thermal resperformance test (TPT) results, and the construction cost was also calculated. For more information, GLD (ground loop design) simulations of various piping size are carried out. From simulation results, the optimized GHE was suggested based on the thermal performance and construction cost as well. Besides, the required borehole length of U and W type GHEs was calculated considering a real construction condition using GLD program.

• Proceedings of the Korean Geotechical Society Conference
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• 2010.03a
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• pp.229-239
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• 2010

Performing a series of in-situ thermal response tests, the effective thermal conductivity of six vertical closed-loop ground heat exchangers was experimentally evaluated and compared each other, which were constructed in a test bed in Wonju. To compare thermal efficiency of the ground heat exchangers in field, the six boreholes were constructed with different construction conditions: grouting materials (cement vs. bentonite), different additives (silica sand vs. graphite) and the shape of pipe-sections (general U-loop type vs. 3 pipe-type). From the test results, it can be concluded that cement grouting has a higher effective thermal conductivity than that of bentonite grouting, and the efficiency of graphite better performs over silica sand as a thermally-enhancing addictive. In addition, a new 3 pipe-type heat exchanger provides less thermal interference between the inlet and outlet pipe than the conventional U-loop type heat exchanger, which results in superior thermal performance.

• Geomechanics and Engineering
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• v.6 no.1
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• pp.79-98
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• 2014

This paper presents an experimental and numerical study on the evaluation of a thermal response test using a precast high-strength concrete (PHC) energy pile and a closed vertical system with W-type ground heat exchangers (GHEs). Field thermal response tests (TRTs) were conducted on a PHC energy pile and on a general vertical GHE installed in a multiple layered soil ground. The equivalent ground thermal conductivity was determined by using the results from TRTs. A simple analytical solution is suggested in this research to derive an equivalent ground thermal conductivity of the multilayered soils for vertically buried GHEs. The PHC energy pile and general vertical system were numerically modeled using a three dimensional finite element method to compare the results with TRTs'. Borehole thermal resistance values were also obtained from the numerical results, and they were compared with various analytical solutions. Additionally, the effect of ground thermal conductivity on the borehole thermal resistance was analyzed.