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Experimenting and Modeling Thermal Performance of Ground Heat Exchanger Under Freezing Soil Conditions

Author

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  • Shuyang Tu

    (Institute of HVAC Engineering, Tongji University, Shanghai 200092, China
    China Southwest Architectural Design and Research Institute, Chengdu, Sichuan 610041, China)

  • Xiuqin Yang

    (Institute of HVAC Engineering, Tongji University, Shanghai 200092, China)

  • Xiang Zhou

    (Institute of HVAC Engineering, Tongji University, Shanghai 200092, China)

  • Maohui Luo

    (Center for the Built Environment, University of California, Berkeley, CA 94703, USA)

  • Xu Zhang

    (Institute of HVAC Engineering, Tongji University, Shanghai 200092, China)

Abstract

Many studies have investigated the thermal performance of ground heat exchangers (GHEs) under normal conditions with inlet temperatures above 0 °C, but the freezing soil condition has been absent. We conducted a three-month test to investigate the heat transfer of GHE with inlet water-glycol temperatures of −7~0 °C. An improved thermal resistance and capacity (RC) model was developed to investigate the heat transfer between vertical single U-tube GHEs and the frozen soil. After validating with experimental results and CFD simulations, the RC model was applied to analyze GHEs’ thermal performance under different freezing soil conditions. It shows that the frozen soil increases GHE’s heat transfer capacity by 30% and the freezing inlet temperature has limited impacts on temperature distribution around the exchanger (with < 4 m influence radius). The GHEs’ heat transfer rate remained at 75~80 W/m throughout the three-month test, which is surprisingly high to ensure the normal operation of the ground source heat pump (GSHP). These findings can be references for designing and operating GSHP systems in cold and severe cold climate zones, and the RC model can be applied to analyze future GHEs performance with phase change processes.

Suggested Citation

  • Shuyang Tu & Xiuqin Yang & Xiang Zhou & Maohui Luo & Xu Zhang, 2019. "Experimenting and Modeling Thermal Performance of Ground Heat Exchanger Under Freezing Soil Conditions," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(20), pages 1-18, October.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:11:y:2019:i:20:p:5738-:d:277340
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Cited by:

    1. Kunning Yang & Takao Katsura & Shigeyuki Nagasaka & Katsunori Nagano, 2023. "Analyzing the Performance of Double Spiral Tube Ground Heat Exchangers in a Zero-Energy Building Using Measurement Data," Energies, MDPI, vol. 16(19), pages 1-25, October.
    2. Vivek Aggarwal & Chandan Swaroop Meena & Ashok Kumar & Tabish Alam & Anuj Kumar & Arijit Ghosh & Aritra Ghosh, 2020. "Potential and Future Prospects of Geothermal Energy in Space Conditioning of Buildings: India and Worldwide Review," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(20), pages 1-19, October.
    3. Khaled Salhein & Abdulgani Albagul & C. J. Kobus, 2025. "A Comprehensive Review of Heat Transfer Fluids and Their Velocity Effects on Ground Heat Exchanger Efficiency in Geothermal Heat Pump Systems," Energies, MDPI, vol. 18(17), pages 1-50, August.
    4. Zhi, Chengqiang & Yang, Xiuqin & Zhou, Xiang & Tu, Shuyang & Zhang, Xu, 2022. "A revised sizing method for borehole heat exchangers in the Chinese national standard based on reliability and economy," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 191(C), pages 17-29.
    5. Tao Wang & Jiazeng Cao & Xiangjun Pei & Zequn Hong & Yaohui Liu & Guoqing Zhou, 2022. "Research on Spatial Scale of Fluctuation for the Uncertain Thermal Parameters of Artificially Frozen Soil," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(24), pages 1-13, December.
    6. Zhi, Chengqiang & Zhou, Xiang & Hong, Xiaoyu & Wang, Aoxue & Ye, Wei & Zhang, Xu & Chen, Hongxin, 2025. "Field study of the long-term performance and reliability of large-scale ground source heat pump systems applied to a mixed-use complex of buildings," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 241(C).

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