Ground Heat Exchanger (GHE) is the key to the efficiency of a Ground Source Heat Pump (GSHP). However, GHE is not standardized as other parts of the GSHP. It is basically a bunch of tubes that need to be properly sized and burred in the ground. Improperly sized GHE can lead to chocked flow and higher pump cost or stagnate flow and less heat transfer. This article lays out the basic steps for sizing a ground heat exchanger for installation.
Sizing-Ground-Heat-Exchanger
Sizing methods and data of GHE are mostly scattered in installation manuals and other documentations, such as the International Ground Source Heat Pump Association Installation Guide and others listed in the references below. There are also manufacturers’ manuals and several software programs you can use to facilitate the design calculations.
Below are the general steps needed to size a Ground Heat Exchanger. Understand these basic factors will help you to perform the calculation and get a better result. Some of the steps are involved and assumption may have to be made. Once the assumed value is found, repeat the calculation to get a better result.
- The indoor ground fluid temperature. This number can be found from the heat pump unit. The heat pump should specify what this ground fluid temperature is supposed to be inside the unit when the heat pump is used for cooling and heating. Yes, there are two different values, one for cooling, one for heating.
- Earth temperature where the tubes to be burred. You may choose to use the yearly average, or the coldest temperature to ensure enough heating in winter, or the hottest temperature to ensure enough cooling in summer. Estimation may be OK or you can dig a hole to the depth where you are going to install the tubes. Drop a thermometer to the hole, let it stay there for 5 minute and pull it out to read the temperature immediately.
- Evaluate the soil properties. Wet and fine soil will transfer heat better than dry and sandy soil. Use fine mud outside tubes in installation will help. Calculate the thermal resistances of the soil and the tube wall. The smaller the sum of the resistances, the closer the tube fluid temperature will be to the ground temperature.
- Calculate the temperature differences between the indoor fluid and the in ground fluid. Again there two values for this calculation one is for cooling and the other is for heating. Compare these two values to see which is smaller. Hereafter, we will only use the smaller value as the fluid temperature difference and ignore the bigger value, since it will be automatically satisfied if the smaller value is covered in the design.
- Choose the fluid and find their properties. It should be mostly water, but some anti-freezing agent if you cannot avoid freezing temperature. Some anti-freezer may lover the heat capacity and heat transfer coefficient.
- Find the BTU (or thermal) capacity of the heat pump unit. Divide the thermal capacity by the fluid temperature difference and the fluid heat capacity will yield the fluid flow rate needed for the GHE.
Find available tube sizes and calculate the cross section inside the tubes. Divide the fluid flow rate obtained above by the cross section will produce the fluid velocity. Choose the tube size that will give you the recommended fluid velocity inside the ground tubes. These velocity should be preferred with 2 to 8 ft/sec. That is the tube you are going to use for the GHE. - With the fluid velocity, the soil thermal resistance, the thermal capacity derived above, you can calculate the total heat exchange surfaces needed. Divide this total surface by the circumference of the tube will give you the total length of the tube needed.
Please use the comment box below to document your input and questions.
References:
GHPS Design and Installation Standards
GROUND-SOURCE HEAT PUMP PROJECT ANALYSIS – Canada
Geotherm Heat Pump Manual — NYC
Analysis of Ground Heat Exchangers for Geothermal Heat Pumps
Analysis of Ground Coupled Heat Exchanger by Brett Vincent Walsh
Horizontal Ground Heat Exchanger Design for Ground Coupled Heat Pumps
Example of DIY Heat Pump Installations
The following video leads to a DIY Geothermal Journal. If you have such a plan or record, please add link through a comment below. We will visit your page and possibly have it introduced here.
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