A heat transfer model of a horizontal ground heat exchanger

Ground-source heat pumps are gaining popularity in Eastern Europe, especially those which are using the horizontal ground heat exchanger (GHX). Due to the difficulty of accessing GHX after the installation, materials and the quality of the installation must satisfy the very high requirements. An inaccurate calculation of GHX can be the reason of a scarcity of heat power in a crucial moment. So far, there isn’t any appropriate mathematical description of the horizontal GHX which takes into account the mutual influence of GHX pipes on each other. To solve this problem we used the temperature wave approach. As a result, a mathematical model which describes the dependence of the heat transfer rate per unit length of the horizontal GHX pipe on the thermal properties of soil, operating time of GHX and the distance between pipes was obtained. Using this model, heat transfer rates per unit length of a horizontal GHX were plotted as functions of the distance between pipes and operating time. The modeling shows that heat transfer rates decreases rapidly with the distance between pipes lower then 2 meters. After the launch of heat pump, heat power of GHX is reduced during the first 20 - 30 days and get steady after that. The obtained results correlate with experimental data. Therefore the proposed mathematical model can be used to design a horizontal GHX with the optimal characteristics, and predict its capability during operation.