Numerical simulation of ground source heat pump system considering unsaturated soil properties and groundwater flow

Li, Chaofeng, Cleall, Peter John ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4005-5319, Mao, Jinfeng and Muñoz-Criollo, José Javier 2018. Numerical simulation of ground source heat pump system considering unsaturated soil properties and groundwater flow. Applied Thermal Engineering 139 , pp. 307-316. 10.1016/j.applthermaleng.2018.04.142

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Abstract

This paper analyzes the influence of unsaturated soil properties and groundwater flow on the performance of ground source heat pump (GSHP) systems. A mathematical model of GSHP systems, which considers the influence varying unsaturated soil thermal properties, groundwater table depth and saturated groundwater flow, is introduced and coupled to a heat pump model to consider dynamically-changing loads due to specific heat pump coefficient of performance (COP) characteristics. The model is validated against experiment results and an analytical model reported by others. Finally, numerical simulations are performed to investigate the effect of inclusion of a heat pump, moisture content variations, groundwater table fluctuations and groundwater flow rates on the performance of the GSHP system. Results show that neglecting variations in moisture content in unsaturated soil could lead to underestimating the heat transfer capacity of the soil. A rising groundwater tables is beneficial to the operation of the GSHP system. The influence of groundwater table fluctuation should be considered, otherwise could result in a maximum error of 3.78% on the outlet fluid temperature. When calculating the influence of groundwater flow rates on the performance of the GSHP system, the effect of groundwater tables should also be considered.

Item Type:	Article
Date Type:	Publication
Status:	Published
Schools:	Advanced Research Computing @ Cardiff (ARCCA) Engineering
Publisher:	Elsevier
ISSN:	1359-4311
Date of First Compliant Deposit:	1 May 2018
Date of Acceptance:	30 April 2018
Last Modified:	25 Nov 2024 14:45
URI:	https://orca.cardiff.ac.uk/id/eprint/111131

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