• Proceedings of the KSME Conference
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• 2007.05b
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• pp.3401-3406
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• 2007

This study was performed to acquire the reliable in-situ thermal conductivity of closed type ground heat exchanger used in ground source heat pump. We selected four sites(Cheonan, Daejeon, Daegu, Gwangju) which are central area of South Korea. Test results show that the effective thermal conductivities are 2.33 W/m$^{\circ}C$, 2.50 W/m$^{\circ}C$, 2.75 W/m$^{\circ}C$ and 2.86 W/m$^{\circ}C$. From this data, we can see that thermal conductivity varies about the range of 23% with the sites. Also, thermal conductivity increases up to 20% by changing grouting material from low salica sand to high one.

• 한국신재생에너지학회:학술대회논문집
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• 2009.06a
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• pp.583-587
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• 2009

This paper presents a series of numerical simulations on the thermal performance and sectional efficiency of a closed-loop vertical ground heat exchanger (U-loop) equipped in a geothermal heat pump system (GHP). A 3-D finite volume analysis (Fluent) was used to simulate the operating process of the closed-loop vertical ground heat exchanger by considering the effect of the thickness of HDPE pipe and grout thermal properties, distance between the inflow and outflow pipes, and the effectiveness of the latticed HDPE pipe system. It was observed that the thermal interference between the two strands of U-loop is of importance in determining the efficiency of the ground heat exchanger, and thus it is highly recommendable to modify the cross section configuration of the conventional U-loop system by including a thermally insulating latice between the two strands.

• Journal of the Korean Geotechnical Society
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• v.26 no.7
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• pp.93-106
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• 2010

In performing a series of in-situ thermal response tests, the effective thermal conductivities of six vertical closed-loop ground heat exchangers were experimentally evaluated and compared one another, which were constructed in a test bed in Wonju. To compare thermal efficiency of the ground heat exchangers in field, the six boreholes were constructed with different construction conditions: grouting materials (cement vs. bentonite), different additives (silica sand vs. graphite) and the shape of pipe-sections (general U-loop type vs. 3 pipe-type). From the test results, it can be concluded that cement grouting has a higher effective thermal conductivity than bentonite grouting, and the efficiency of graphite better performs than silica sand as a thermally-enhancing addictive. In addition, a new 3 pipe-type heat exchanger provides less thermal interference between the inlet and outlet pipe than the conventional U-loop type heat exchanger, which results in superior thermal performance. Based on the results from the in-situ thermal response tests, a series of economic analyses have been made to show the applicability of the new addictives and 3 pipe-type heat exchanger.

• Journal of the Korean Solar Energy Society
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• v.32 no.5
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• pp.68-74
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• 2012

Investigation of the effective soil thermal conductivity($k$) is the first step in designing the ground loop heat exchanger(borehole) of a geothermal heat pump system. Another important factor is the borehole thermal resistance($R_b$). Thermal response tests offer a good method to determine the ground thermal properties for the total heat transport in the ground. The first step is measured for initial soil temperature. This is done by supplying a only pump power into a borehole heat exchanger. They need to supply into water unload heat power more than 30 minutes. In this study, the initial soil temperature was found to analysis $14.1{\sim}16.0^{\circ}C$,the ratio was 68.7% represented. In this case of $k$, was 2.1~3.0 $W/m{\cdot}k$, $R_b$ was 0.11~0.20 $m{\cdot}K/W$. In this work, it is also shown that the distribution of a soil thermal conductivity and borehole thermal resistance were on the influence of initial soil temperature. And soil thermal conductivity was related with factors of equation by linear least square method, borehole thermal resistance was on the influence of composite factors.

• Journal of the Korean Geotechnical Society
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• v.29 no.10
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• pp.49-56
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• 2013

The use of geothermal energy has been increased for economic and environmental friendly utilization. Ground thermal conductivity and borehole thermal resistance are very important parameters in the design of geothermal heat pump system. This paper presents an experimental study of heat exchange rate of U and W type ground heat exchangers (GHEs) measured by thermal performance tests (TPTs). U and W type GHEs were installed in a partially saturated dredged soil deposit, and TPTs were conducted to evaluate heat exchange rates under 100-hr continuous operation condition. The heat exchange rates were also calculated by analytical models to estimate borehole thermal resistances and were compared with experimental results. It comes out that multi-pole and equivalent diameter (EQD) models resulted in more accurate agreement than shape factor (SF) model which is currently more often used.

• Journal of the Korean Solar Energy Society
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• v.30 no.4
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• pp.71-78
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• 2010

Investigation of the effective soil thermal conductivity(k) is the first step in designing the ground loop heat exchanger(borehole) of a geothermal heat pump system. The line source method is required by New and Renewable Energy Center of Korea Energy Management Corporation in analyzing data obtained from thermal response tests. Another important factor in designing the ground loop heat exchanger is the borehole thermal resistance($R_b$). There are two methods to evaluate $R_b$ : one is to use a line source method, and the other is to use a shape factor of the borehole. In this study, we demonstrated that the line source method produces better results than the shape factor method in evaluating $R_b$. This is because the borehole thermal resistance evaluated with the line source method characteristically reduces the temperature differences between an actual and a theoretical thermal behaviors of the borehole. Evaluation of $R_b$ requires soil volumetric heat capacity. However, the effect of the soil volumetric heat capacity on the borehole thermal resistance is very small. Therefore, it is possible to use a generally accepted average value of soil volumetric heat capacity($=2MJ/m^3{\cdot}K$) in the analysis. In this work, it is also shown that an acceptable range of the initial ignoring time should be in the range of 8~16hrs. Thus, a mean value of 12 hrs is recommended.

• 한국신재생에너지학회:학술대회논문집
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• 2009.06a
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• pp.579-582
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• 2009

The thermal conductivity and viscosity(or workability) of graphite-added bentonite grouts and cementitious grouts have been evaluated and compared to determine the suitability of these materials for backfilling vertical boreholes of ground heat exchangers. Seven bentonite grouts from different product sources and a portland cement grout with various mixture ratios were considered in this paper. As a new additive for grout, we choose graphite which has high thermal conductivity. The bentonite grouts indicate that the thermal conductivity and viscosity increase with the content of bentonite or with an addition of Graphite compared with that of silica sand. In case of cementitious grout also increase the thermal conductivity and decrease the workability dramatically though an addition of Graphite. Therefore, we cautiously select the amount of graphite and mixture ratio of bentonite and cement considering not only thermal conductivity but also viscosity for the optimum condition of backfilling material.

• Proceedings of the Korean Geotechical Society Conference
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• 2010.03a
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• pp.229-239
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• 2010

Performing a series of in-situ thermal response tests, the effective thermal conductivity of six vertical closed-loop ground heat exchangers was experimentally evaluated and compared each other, which were constructed in a test bed in Wonju. To compare thermal efficiency of the ground heat exchangers in field, the six boreholes were constructed with different construction conditions: grouting materials (cement vs. bentonite), different additives (silica sand vs. graphite) and the shape of pipe-sections (general U-loop type vs. 3 pipe-type). From the test results, it can be concluded that cement grouting has a higher effective thermal conductivity than that of bentonite grouting, and the efficiency of graphite better performs over silica sand as a thermally-enhancing addictive. In addition, a new 3 pipe-type heat exchanger provides less thermal interference between the inlet and outlet pipe than the conventional U-loop type heat exchanger, which results in superior thermal performance.

• Economic and Environmental Geology
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• v.49 no.6
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• pp.459-467
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• 2016

Due to the limited areal space for installation, borehole heat exchangers (BHEs) at depths deeper than 300 m are considered for geothermal heating and cooling in the urban area. The deep vertical closed-loop BHEs are unconventional due to the depth and the range of the typical installation depth is between 100 and 200 m in Korea. The BHE in the study consists of 50A (outer diameter 50 mm, SDR 11) PE U-tube pipe in a 150 mm diameter borehole with the depth of 300 m. In order to compensate the buoyancy caused by the low density of PE pipe ($0.94{\sim}0.96g/cm^3$) in the borehole filled with ground water, 10 weight band sets (4.6 kg/set) were attached to the bottom of U-tube. A thermal response test (TRT) and fundamental basic surveys on the thermophysical characteristics of the ground were conducted. Ground temperature measures around $15^{\circ}C$ from the surface to 100 m, and the geothermal gradient represents $1.9^{\circ}C/100m$ below 100 m. The TRT was conducted for 48 hours with 17.5 kW heat injection, 28.65 l/min at a circulation fluid flow rate indicates an average temperature difference $8.9^{\circ}C$ between inlet and outlet circulation fluid. The estimated thermophysical parameters are 3.0 W/mk of ground thermal conductivity and 0.104 mk/W of borehole thermal resistance. In the stepwise evaluation of TRT, the ground thermal conductivity was calculated at the standard deviation of 0.16 after the initial 13 hours. The sensitivity analysis on the borehole thermal resistance was also conducted with respect to the PE pipe diameter and the thermal conductivity of backfill material. The borehole thermal resistivity slightly decreased with the increase of the two parameters.

• Journal of the Korean Solar Energy Society
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• v.31 no.4
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• pp.80-86
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• 2011

Investigation of the effective soil thermal conductivity(k) is the first step in designing the ground loop heat exchanger(borehole) of a geothermal heat pump system. Another important factor is the borehole thermal resistance($R_b$). Thermal response tests offer a good method to determine the ground thermal properties for the total heat transport in the ground. This is done by supplying a constant heat power into a borehole heat exchanger. There are two methods to supply a constant heat power. One is to employ the electricity provided by Korea Electric Power Corporation(KEPCO). The other is to use electricity generated by a generator. In this study, the power supply regulation was found to reduce when the electricity generated by the generator was used. This is because the generator evaluated with the power supply characteristically reduces the power supply regulation between an overload and a complex using. But it sometimes occurs a power supply regulation in In-situ thermal response test. In this case getting of k,$R_b$ requires delay times and restored normal state. However, the effect of the delay times and restored normal state on the soil thermal conductivity and borehole thermal resistance is very small. Therefore it is possible to use a generally accepted delay times and restored normal state in the analysis. In this work, it is also shown that an acceptable range of ${\Delta}k$, ${\Delta}R_b$ for normal state and regulation state might be approximately 0.01-0.16W/m k, and -0.004-0.007m K/W, respectively. Thus, restored normal state of power supply regulation is valuable to recommend.