Submit to Energies Review for Energies Propose a Special Issue

Journal Browser

► Journal Browser

Ground Source Heat Pumps as Efficient and Sustainable Systems in Buildings

Print Special Issue Flyer
Special Issue Editors
Special Issue Information
Keywords
Published Papers

A special issue of Energies (ISSN 1996-1073). This special issue belongs to the section "G: Energy and Buildings".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (31 December 2020) | Viewed by 16519

Share This Special Issue

Special Issue Editors

Dr. Angelo Zarrella

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor

Department of Industrial Engineering (DII), Università di Padova, Via Venezia, 1, 35131 Padova, Italy
Interests: energy efficiency of building plant system; nearly zero energy buildings (nZEB); building envelope; radiant systems; high efficiency HVAC integrated systems; thermal comfort; renewable energy; ground source heat pump systems; urban energy modelling; modelling and development
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Dr. Giuseppe Emmi

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor

Department of Industrial Engineering, Applied Physics Section, University of Padova, Via Venezia 1, 35131 Padova, Italy
Interests: ground source heat pump systems; ground heat exchangers; numerical simulations; modelling and development; energy efficiency of building plant system; high efficiency hvac integrated systems; combined cooling heating systems; multi-source energy systems; renewable energy exploitation

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

We invite submissions to the Energies Special Issue on “Ground Source Heat Pumps as Efficient and Sustainable Systems in Buildings”. Energies is one of the premier open access journals for publishing academically rigorous research.

The building sector accounts for about 31% of the total global final energy use according to the International Energy Agency—IEA, strongly contributing to global greenhouse gas emissions. This field presents a large energy saving potential using suitable and validated technologies such as energy efficiency improvements in technical installations and in thermal insulation. Ground source heat pump (GSHP) systems are endorsed as among the most energy efficient and environmentally friendly heating, cooling, and water heating systems. The ground offers more stable temperatures with less fluctuation when compared to the ambient air, and consequently the energy efficiency of the heat pump increases. GSHP systems can be used for space heating and cooling applications in both residential and commercial buildings.

This Special Issue is seeking papers on the entire ground-source heat pump system: ground heat exchangers, heat pump technology and new refrigerant fluids, open and closed loops, direct and indirect systems, hybrid systems, optimization of the system performance, system simulations, GSHPs integrated with other renewable energy (solar collectors, hybrid thermo-photovoltaic panels, air-to-water heat pumps, etc.), retrofitting of GSHPs, thermal response tests, design, equipment, control strategies, case studies, field measurements, etc. Review papers are also very welcome.

We would like to invite you to contribute a paper.

Dr. Angelo Zarrella
Dr. Giuseppe Emmi
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Energies is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2600 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

Ground source heat pump (GSHP) systems
ground-loop heat exchanger models
ground heat transfer
hybrid ground source heat pump systems
thermal response tests
system simulations

Published Papers (6 papers)

Download All Papers

Research

19 pages, 4136 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Analysis of Retrofit Solutions of a Ground Source Heat Pump System: An Italian Case Study

by Angelo Zarrella, Roberto Zecchin, Philippe Pasquier, Diego Guzzon, Enrico Prataviera, Jacopo Vivian, Michele De Carli and Giuseppe Emmi

Energies 2020, 13(21), 5680; https://doi.org/10.3390/en13215680 - 30 Oct 2020

Cited by 8 | Viewed by 2416

Abstract

Ground coupled heat pumps are a notoriously efficient system for heating and cooling buildings. Sometimes the characteristics of the building and the user’s needs are such that the amount of heat extracted from the ground during the winter season can be considerably different from the amount injected in summer. This situation can cause a progressive cooling or heating of the ground with a negative effect on the energy efficiency and correct operation of the system. In these cases, an accurate sizing has to be done. In systems already built, it could be necessary to intervene a posteriori to remedy an excessive ground thermal drift due to the energy unbalance. In this work, such a situation relating to a real office building in Italy is investigated and several solutions are examined, one of which has been then implemented. In particular, a hybrid heat pump using as heat sink both the ground and external air is compared with common solutions through computer simulations using a dedicated numerical model, which has also been compared with monitoring data. As a result, the hybrid heat pump shows better performance and limits the thermal drift of the ground temperature. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Ground Source Heat Pumps as Efficient and Sustainable Systems in Buildings)

► Show Figures

Graphical abstract

18 pages, 5580 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Development of Simulation Tool for Ground Source Heat Pump Systems Influenced by Ground Surface

by Takao Katsura, Yoshitaka Sakata, Lan Ding and Katsunori Nagano

Energies 2020, 13(17), 4491; https://doi.org/10.3390/en13174491 - 31 Aug 2020

Cited by 8 | Viewed by 2931

Abstract

The authors developed a ground heat exchanger (GHE) calculation model influenced by the ground surface by applying the superposition theorem. Furthermore, a simulation tool for ground source heat pump (GSHP) systems affected by ground surface was developed by combining the GHE calculation model with the simulation tool for GSHP systems that the authors previously developed. In this paper, the outlines of GHE calculation model is explained. Next, in order to validate the calculation precision of the tool, a thermal response test (TRT) was carried out using a borehole GHE with a length of 30 m and the outlet temperature of the GHE calculated using the tool was compared to the measured one. The relative error between the temperatures of the heat carrier fluid in the GHE obtained by measurement and calculation was 3.3% and this result indicated that the tool can reproduce the measurement with acceptable precision. In addition, the authors assumed that the GSHP system was installed in residential houses and predicted the performances of GSHP systems using the GHEs with different lengths and numbers, but the same total length. The result showed that the average surface temperature of GHE with a length of 10 m becomes approximately 2 °C higher than the average surface temperature of a GHE with a length of 100 m in August. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Ground Source Heat Pumps as Efficient and Sustainable Systems in Buildings)

► Show Figures

Figure 1

17 pages, 10115 KiB

Open AccessArticle

A New Simulation Model for Vertical Spiral Ground Heat Exchangers Combining Cylindrical Source Model and Capacity Resistance Model

by Takao Katsura, Takashi Higashitani, Yuzhi Fang, Yoshitaka Sakata, Katsunori Nagano, Hitoshi Akai and Motoaki OE

Energies 2020, 13(6), 1339; https://doi.org/10.3390/en13061339 - 13 Mar 2020

Cited by 7 | Viewed by 2364

Abstract

Considering the heat capacity inside vertical spiral ground heat exchanger (VSGHEX) in the simulation is one of the most noteworthy challenge to design the ground source heat pump (GSHP) system with VSGHEXs. In this paper, a new simulation model for VSGHEXs is developed by combining the ICS model with the CaRM. The developed simulation model can consider the heat capacity inside VSGHEX and provide dynamic calculation with high speed and appropriate precision. In order to apply the CaRM, the equivalent length was introduced. Then, the equivalent length was approximated by comparing the results of the CaRM and the numerical calculation. In addition, the calculation model of the VSGHEX was integrated into the design and simulation tool for the GSHP system. The accuracy of the tool was verified by comparing with the measurements. The error between supply temperatures of the measurements and calculation is approximately 2 °C at the maximum. Finally, assuming GSHP systems with VSGHEXs, whose spiral diameter was 500 mm and depth was 4 m, were installed in residential houses in Japan, the required numbers of VSGHEXs were estimated. The results showed a strong correlation between the total heating or cooling load and the required number. Therefore, the required number can be estimated by using the simplified approximate equation. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Ground Source Heat Pumps as Efficient and Sustainable Systems in Buildings)

► Show Figures

Graphical abstract

18 pages, 8149 KiB

Open AccessArticle

A Study on the Effect of Performance Factor on GSHP System through Real-Scale Experiments in Korea

by Hongkyo Kim, Yujin Nam, Sangmu Bae, Jae Sang Choi and Sang Bum Kim

Energies 2020, 13(3), 554; https://doi.org/10.3390/en13030554 - 23 Jan 2020

Cited by 4 | Viewed by 2134

Abstract

A ground source heat pump system is one of the high-efficient technologies for space heating and cooling since it uses stable underground temperature. However, in actual application, many situations cannot be achieved due to the unsuitable design of operation. In particular, the design characteristics of buildings with different building load patterns are not reflected by the conventional design method. Moreover, the design capacity of the heat pump can be reduced by designing less capacity than the peak load through the introduction of the heat storage tank, but there is no related quantitative design method. Therefore, in this study, the effect of the ground source heat pump system design factors such as shape, length of the ground heat exchanger, and the capacity of the heat storage tank on the system performance was analyzed. To quantify the effect of such factors on system performance, an experimental plant was constructed and case studies were conducted for each design factor. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Ground Source Heat Pumps as Efficient and Sustainable Systems in Buildings)

► Show Figures

Graphical abstract

30 pages, 3495 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Comparison of Four Methods for Borehole Heat Exchanger Sizing Subject to Thermal Response Test Parameter Estimation

by Xuedan Zhang, Tiantian Zhang, Bingxi Li and Yiqiang Jiang

Energies 2019, 12(21), 4067; https://doi.org/10.3390/en12214067 - 25 Oct 2019

Cited by 12 | Viewed by 3158

Abstract

The impact of different parameter estimation results on the design length of a borehole heat exchanger has received very little attention. This paper provides an in-depth investigation of this problem, together with a full presentation of six data interpretation models and a comprehensive comparison of four representative sizing methods and their inter models. Six heat transfer models were employed to interpret the same thermal response test data set. It was found that the estimated parameters varied with the data interpretation model. The relative difference in borehole thermal resistance reached 34.4%, and this value was 11.9% for soil thermal conductivity. The resulting parameter estimation results were used to simulate mean fluid temperature for a single borehole and then to determine the borehole length for a large bore field. The variations in these two correlated parameters caused about 15% and 5% relative difference in mean fluid temperature in the beginning and at the end of the simulation period, respectively. For computing the borehole design length, software-based methods were more sensitive to the influence of parameter estimation results than simple equation-based methods. It is expected that these comparisons will be beneficial to anyone involved in the design of ground-coupled heat pump systems. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Ground Source Heat Pumps as Efficient and Sustainable Systems in Buildings)

► Show Figures

Graphical abstract

17 pages, 4785 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Study on the Optimum Design of a Ground Heat Pump System Using Optimization Algorithms

by Hyeongjin Moon, Hongkyo Kim and Yujin Nam

Energies 2019, 12(21), 4033; https://doi.org/10.3390/en12214033 - 23 Oct 2019

Cited by 3 | Viewed by 2353

Abstract

Geothermal energy has attracted attention as a high-efficiency energy source that can be used year-round, but it has a relatively higher initial investment cost. For the design of ground source heat pump (GSHP) systems, a calculation method to determine the capacity of a system to meet the peak load of the target building is usually used. However, this method requires excessive system capacity design, especially regarding buildings with partial load operations. In this study, the optimization of a system design was performed in the view of the cost of the lifecycle cost. Several optimization algorithms were considered, such as the discrete Armijo gradient algorithm, a particle swarm optimization (PSO) algorithm, and a coordinate search method algorithm. The results of the optimization described the system capacity (heat pump, ground heat exchanger, thermal storage tank, etc.) and the cost performance, showing that the total investment cost was reduced compared to the existing design. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Ground Source Heat Pumps as Efficient and Sustainable Systems in Buildings)

► Show Figures

Graphical abstract

Journal Menu

Journal Browser

Ground Source Heat Pumps as Efficient and Sustainable Systems in Buildings

Share This Special Issue

Special Issue Editors

Special Issue Information

Keywords

Published Papers (6 papers)

Research

Further Information

Guidelines

MDPI Initiatives

Follow MDPI