• Korean Journal of Air-Conditioning and Refrigeration Engineering
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• v.26 no.12
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• pp.553-558
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• 2014

Geothermal energy can be used with a geothermal heat pump or an earth-to-air heat exchange system (EAHES), which is referred to as a "cooling tube" in Korea. In this study, we suggest EAHES burial guidelines in terms of the parameters of buried pipe length and air velocity regarding the exit air temperature of EAHES. The exit air temperature for EAHES in three regions (Changwon, Busan and Seoul) was calculated with variation in buried pipe length and air velocity at ${\Phi}100mm$ and ${\Phi}200mm$. In conclusion, variation in the buried pipe length is more effective than that of air velocity to achieve the required exit air temperature.

• Journal of the Korean Geotechnical Society
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• v.29 no.2
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• pp.5-14
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• 2013

Among the various thermal properties, thermal conductivity of soils is one of the most important parameters to design a horizontal ground heat exchanger for ground-coupled heat pump systems. It is well known that the thermal conductivity of soil is strongly influenced by its density and water content because of its particulate structure. This paper evaluates some of the well-known prediction models for the thermal conductivity of particulate media such as soils along with the experimental results. The semi-theoretical models for two-component materials were found inappropriate to estimate the thermal conductivity of dry soils. It comes out that the model developed by Cote and Konrad provides the best overall prediction for unsaturated sands available in the literature. Also, a parametric analysis is conducted to investigate the effect of thermal conductivity, water content and soil type on the horizontal ground heat exchanger design. The results show that a design pipe length for the horizontal ground heat exchanger can be reduced with an increase in soil thermal conductivity. The current research concludes that the dimension of the horizontal ground heat exchanger can be reduced to a certain extent by backfilling materials with a higher thermal conductivity of solid particles.