Thermal Response Test (TRT) interpretation and the status in Korea

열응답 실험 해석 및 국내 현황

The growing market for geothermal heat pump system requires great consideration of quality control and assurance in design and construction. The borehole heat exchanger of GHP system should be sustainable, economical and ecological. Thermal Response Test (TRT) is a useful method for site investigation to obtain reliable data for a optimal system design from the technical and economical aspect. Intensive researches combined with exchange of experiences on an international level within the IEA ECES Annex 21 improved the technology. Major subjects on the interpretation of TRT are development of improved evaluation models, evaluation of the TRT with respect to geological layers and investigation of the influence of ground water. Current status of TRT in South Korea, as well as a new version of the Korean TRT standard test procedure was presented. TRT is mostly used for governmental supported projects with corresponds to more than 100 GCHP systems per year. More than 200 tests are applied, mostly on single U-tube heat exchangers (about 95%). Bentonite is the most common grouting to be used. KIGAM (Korea Institute of Geoscience & Mineral Resources) is also keeping a GIS geological and geothermal database. In the institute also laboratory measurements of rock properties are carried out. About 90% of the laboratory measurements of the rock heat conductivity shows higher values than the in-situ TRT.