Characterization of a novel in-ground heat exchanger for applications in sustainable building energy and maintaining permafrost

• Main Author: Sarah R. Nicholson
• Format: Thesis
• Language: unknown
• Published: 2022
• Subjects: Other mechanical engineering; n.e.c; Other industrial; systems and processes engineering; Heat exchangers; Heat exchangers > Thermodynamics; Ground source heat pump systems; Geothermal resources; Soil temperature > Mathematical models; Permafrost > Thermal conductivity; Soils > Thermal properties; Sustainable buildings; permafrost
• Online Access: https://doi.org/10.32920/19852672.v1; https://figshare.com/articles/thesis/Characterization_of_a_novel_in-ground_heat_exchanger_for_applications_in_sustainable_building_energy_and_maintaining_permafrost/19852672

This thesis investigates the use of a Helical Steel Pile (HSP), as an in-ground heat exchanger for a Ground-Source Heat Pump (GSHP) system. A multi-layered soil conductivity dataset was created to quantify thermal performance across a variety of climate and soil conditions. Geometric features of the HSP were optimized using parametric sweeps, and the capacity of the pile to supply a building load was characterized for a variety of inlet fluid temperatures, seasons, and locations. Transient simulations of the pile characterized its ability to supply three different types of building load sets across a year. Finally, 40-year simulations showed the potential for the HSP to provide heating to buildings in a northern region while also mitigating the thawing of permafrost from climate change. The results indicate a potential to provide sustainable thermal energy to remote communities while delaying the predicted thawing of permafrost locally by up to 75 years.