GANESH, S7 ME, Roll No.
16
Transient heat transfer in a coaxial
borehole heat exchanger
ABSTRACT
The most common method to exchange heat with the ground in Ground Source Heat Pump
(GSHP) installations is by means of U pipe Borehole Heat Exchangers (BHE) installed into
energy wells, boreholes. U-pipe BHEs are relatively inexpensive and very easy to install,
resulting on their total dominance in the GSHP market for many years. This, although coaxial
BHEs consisting of one central and one or several peripheral flow channels may offer unique
advantages (if properly designed) as wall, low thermal shunt between up and downwards
channels, lower pressure drop, among others compared to U-pipes. They may offer good
thermal contact between external flow channel(s) and the borehole
A transient heat transfer model has been developed for a thermal response test on a pipe-
in-pipe coaxial borehole heat exchanger. The analytical model calculates the vertical
temperature profiles in the fluid flowing through the pipes, which are coupled to the
surrounding grout and ground. The model is verified against measured vertical temperature
profiles in the circulating fluid during a distributed thermal response test. The comparison
with measured data indicates that the proposed model gives a more accurate estimate of the
borehole thermal resistance than the conventional analytical model that uses a mean
temperature approximation.
For all borehole heat exchangers (BHE) the ground thermal conductivity is an important
parameter in determining the required number of boreholes and borehole depth. The
borehole thermal resistance is another parameter that affects the thermal performance of
the borehole. The borehole resistance represents the thermal resistance between the
circulating fluid and the borehole wall. This resistance includes the thermal resistances of the
pipe walls, the grout, and the convective films. A lower borehole resistance implies better
performance for the BHE.
The need for an accurate determination of borehole thermal resistance from a TRT, provides
motivation to replace the mean temperature approximation with more rigorous methods.
The thermal performance of a Borehole Heat Exchanger plays a significant role when defining
the quality of heat exchange with the ground in Ground Source Heat Pumps. Different designs
have been discussed and increased interest on innovation within this field has taken place
during the last years. CBHE consisting of an inner central pipe and an annular channel in direct
contact with the surrounding bedrock. The measurements were taken during a distributed
thermal response test using fiber optic cables installed in the energy well. Fluid temperature
every ten meters along the borehole depth are presented and compared with similar
measurements from a common U-pipe heat exchanger. A unique measurement of the
borehole wall temperature in the coaxial collector illustrates how effective the heat transfer
performance is through the annular channel.
An important issue in the design of BHEs is to identify effective methods so that heat can be
injected or extracted into/from the ground without unnecessary temperature differences
between the secondary fluid and the surrounding bedrock, i.e. the BHE must be thermally
efficient.
REFERENCE
Richard A.Beiera, Jos Acua, Palne Mogensenc, Bjrn Palm, 2014, Transient heat
transfer in a coaxial borehole heat exchanger, Geothermics, Volume 51,
Pages 470 - 482
Acua, J. & Palm, B. (2011). First Experiences with Coaxial Borehole Heat Exchangers.
In: Proceedings of the IIR Conference on Sources/Sinks alternative to the outside Air
for HPs and AC techniques. Paper presented at IIR Conference on Sources/Sinks
alternative to the outside Air for HPs and AC techniques. Padua, Italy, April 5-6-7,
2011. International Institute of Refrigeration
J. Acua, B. Palm, 2011, FIRST EXPERIENCES WITH COAXIAL BOREHOLE HEAT
EXCHANGERS, Pages 59 66
J. Acua, B. Palm, 2011, DISTRIBUTED TEMPERATURE MEASUREMENTS ON A MULTI-
PIPE COAXIAL BOREHOLE HEAT EXCHANGER, 10
th
IEA Heat Pump Conference 2011
J. Acua, 2011, Analysis of a Novel Pipe in Pipe Coaxial Borehole Heat Exchanger
Wikipedia, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Downhole_heat_exchanger
Norwegian Geological Survey, http://www.ngu.no/en-gb/hm/Resources/Ground-
source-energy/Borehole-heat-exchanger-/
