Analysis of thermal stress and heat transfer due to circulating fluid in ground heat exchanger

지중 열교환기의 순환수에 의한 열응력 및 열전달 거동 분석

In this study, a series of numerical analysis has been accomplished on the thermal performance and sectional efficiency of a closed-loop vertical ground heat exchanger (U-loop) in a geothermal heat pump system (GHP) considering the circulating fluid, pipe, grout and soil formation. A finite element analysis program, ABAQUS, was employed to evaluate the temperature distribution on the cross section of the U-loop system involving HDPE pipe/grout/formation and to compare sectional efficiency between the conventional U-loop and a new latticed HDPE pipe system. Especially, the latticed pipe is equipped with a thermal insulation zone in order to reduce thermal interference between the inflow pipe and the outflow pipe. Also, a thermal stress analysis was performed with the aid of ABAQUS. 3-D finite volume analysis program, FLUENT, was adapted to analyze a coupled system between fluid circulation in the pipe and heat transfer and simulate an operating process of the closed-loop vertical ground heat exchanger. In this analysis, the effect of the thermal properties of grout, rate of circulation pump, distance between the inflow pipe and the outflow pipe, and the effectiveness of the latticed HDPE pipe system are taken into account.