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https://www.um.edu.mt/library/oar/handle/123456789/82787
Title: | The effect of shank-space on the thermal performance of shallow vertical u-tube ground heat exchangers |
Authors: | Vella, Christopher Borg, Simon Paul Micallef, Daniel |
Keywords: | Ground source heat pump systems Computational fluid dynamics Heat pumps Geothermal engineering |
Issue Date: | 2020 |
Publisher: | MDPI |
Citation: | Vella, C., Borg, S. P., & Micallef, D. (2020). The effect of shank-space on the thermal performance of shallow vertical u-tube ground heat exchangers. Energies 2020, 13(3), 602. |
Abstract: | One parameter that may affect the performance of a ground source heat pump is the shank-space, the center-to-center distance between the two branches of a vertical U-tube used in a ground heat exchanger. A 3D steady-state computational fluid dynamics (CFD) model of a U-tube ground heat exchanger was used to investigate the influence of varying shank-space on the thermal performance of two isolated vertical shallow U-tubes, one 20 m deep and the other 40 m deep, given that most existing research focuses on systems making use of deeper boreholes. The models adopt an innovative approach, whereby the U-junction at the bottom of the U-tube is eliminated, thus facilitating the computational process. The results obtained show that, although the temperature drop across the U-tube varies for different shank-spaces and is lowest and highest for the closest and the widest shank-spaces, respectively, this temperature drop is not linear with increases in shank-space, and the thermal performance improvement drastically diminishes with increasing shank-space. This indicates that, for shallow U-tubes, the temperature drop is more dependent on the length of the pipework. |
URI: | https://www.um.edu.mt/library/oar/handle/123456789/82787 |
Appears in Collections: | Scholarly Works - FacBenED |
Files in This Item:
File | Description | Size | Format | |
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The_effect_of_shank-space_on_the_thermal_performance_of_shallow_vertical_u-tube_ground_heat_exchangers(2)_2020.pdf | 3.28 MB | Adobe PDF | View/Open |
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