Vertical ground source heat pumps are established and still growing on the global market. The modelling of these systems is important for system design and optimization. This is an active field of research, and many models are often built into system simulation software such as TRNSYS. With the intention of having a better sensibility for existing TRNSYS tools, three different cases are simulated with several TRNSYS tools, so called Types. A Thermal Response Test, a large borehole field of an IKEA building complex in Sweden, as well as the Marine Corps Logistic Base in Albany, USA. The vertical ground heat exchanger types 203, 244, 243, 246, 451, 55a and 557b are used. Most of the simulations are investigated and evaluated by comparing them to measured data. The result shows that, for these specific cases, the DTS types 557a and 557b can underestimate the heat transfer early on due to a poor consideration of the thermal capacity inside the borehole. Depending on how the thermal resistance is calculated by a module, the fluid mean temperature simulation is affected by a constant throughout the simulation time. The simulation results indicate that the type 557b, where the borehole resistance is pre-set as an input and known from experimental data, is the most accurate of the types for groundwater filled boreholes. On short term, type 451 provides a good coherence with the measured data, with a relative deviation of 10.3 %. The borehole models that consider the borehole thermal capacity overestimate the short term heat transfer rate, whereas those that neglect the borehole capacity underestimate the short term thermal heat transfer on short term. Existing Types describe successfully the long term behaviour of large borehole fields. Serial versus parallel coupled BHE fields show relatively small differences in performance when simulated with type 557b for a specific study case.

A feasibility study on upgrading an existing heat distribution network to a low-temperature distribution grid has been carried out during this project. The integration of a solar thermal system combined with a borehole thermal energy storage (BTES) for covering the space heating demand of the buildings as well as the application of CO2 heat pumps and water storage tanks for domestic hot water (DHW) production were investigated in order to apply more renewable energy sources. The energy analysis included several measures, such as modeling the energy demand of the buildings, finding a reasonable number of solar collectors to be installed and dimensioning a ground source heat pump (with the use of CoolPack and Engineering Equation Solver EES) and a geothermal storage (Earth Energy Designer Software EED) as well as CO2 heat pumps (CoolPack/EES). An economic analysis of all proposed measures has been carried out based on the Net Present Value (NPV) and Net Present Value Quotient (NPVQ). Initial costs, annual costs, annual savings as well as the payback time of the energy systems have been calculated. It is found that it is not feasible to invest in the proposed energy system for space heating because the payback time (28 years) of the system is longer than the lifetime of the solar thermal system. Furthermore, the solar gain from the solar collectors is not sufficient for recovering the ground temperature of the BTES with solar energy only which is why external sources would be needed for supplying the remaining energy needed to recover the ground temperature. Results show that an integration of CO2 heat pumps and water storage tanks for DHW production is very promising as the payback time for the investigated system is only 4 years which is why this part should be investigated further.

No description available.

Nowadays, Ground Source Heat Pumps (GSHPs) are more frequently acting as a main or the only device covering the building heat/cool demand. The most efficient way to extract/dissipate the low-temperature heat from/to the ground is by means of Borehole Heat Exchanger (BHE). In this Master of Science Thesis various aspects related to this technology are studied, focused on summarizing the possibilities of installing this tech-nology in Poland. Borehole drilling methods used in Poland and Sweden are analyzed and the most proper and economical ones according to Polish geological structure are proposed. Approximately for 80 % of Poland the ground should be penetrated with Mud Rotary Drilling, while for the rest 20 % DTH Air or Water driven hammer should be used. Solutions of Thermal Insulated Leg (TIL) Borehole Heat Exchanger cooperation with mechanical ventilation system are proposed and simple preliminary estimations show higher Coefficient of Performance (COP) in comparison to normal, common situation, where standard U-pipe BHE works. The possibility of using a new product (Energy Capsule - EC) in Polish conditions is surveyed, found hard to prosper at Polish market according to its high costs. Profitability of Ground Source Heat Pumps with Borehole Heat Exchanger in different geological regions of Poland is investigated. After conducted simulations it occurred that Polish lowland regions are cheaper in exploita-tion, while uplands regions are less expensive at investment level. Finally, the most ef-ficient BHE conception from those currently available at market as well as recently in-vented is suggested. Annular coaxial BHE in a form of Energy Capsule seems to be the most beneficial from all designs taken into account during performed simulations because of its low price and good thermal properties.

LKAB Wassara AB, förkortat Wassara, är ett dotterbolag till det statligt ägda LKAB. Wassara utvecklar och tillverkar borrsystem som bland annat används för spränghålsborrning i LKAB:s gruvor. Borrtekniken som Wassara utvecklat använder sig av trycksatt vatten för att driva en slaghammare vilken slår på en borrkrona. Wassaras system möjliggör rak borrning med hög precision. Nästa steg är att utveckla ett borrsystem där borrens riktning kan kontrolleras vilket ska resultera i en mer fördelaktig borrhålslayout och därmed ökad produktivitet. Detta examensarbete är en del av ett utvecklingsprojekt inom Wassara kallat ”Framtida borrsystem” som syftar till att ta fram nästa generations styrda borrsystem. Arbetet som beskrivs i denna rapport behandlar en omvärldsanalys av området styrd borrning samt konceptutveckling för den mekaniska styrprincipen vilka har till syfte att ligga till grund för ett beslut gällande möjligheten till implementering av styrd borrning i Wassaras system. Genom en omfattande omvärldsanalys lades en kunskapsgrundgrund för en konceptgenerering vilken resulterade i fem koncept för styrningsmekanismen. Koncepten analyserades och utvärderades och ledde fram till ett slutkoncept för vidare utveckling. Detta koncept visualiserades med hjälp av 3D-modeller och funktionsprototyper för att ge en bättre bild av, samt verifiera, geometrin. Vidare gjordes hållfasthetsanalyser, gränssnittsutformningar och förslag till drivsystem för den mekaniska styrprincipen.Det slutkoncept som beskrivs i rapporten uppfyllde de krav som ställdes initialt. Konceptet jämfördes med ett antal existerande system, vilka studerades i omvärldsanalysen, och visade på fördelaktiga egenskaper med avseende på de förhållanden som gäller för ”Framtida borrsystem”. / LKAB Wassara AB, abbr. Wassara, is a subsidiary of the state owned LKAB. Wassara develops and manufactures drilling technology, which is used for blast hole drilling in LKAB's mines. The drilling technique Wassara developed uses pressurized water to drive a percussion hammer which strikes on a drill bit. Wassara’s system allows straight drilling with high precision. The next step for Wassara is to develop a drilling system where the drill direction can be controlled, which will result in a more favourable borehole layout and thus increased productivity. This thesis is part of a development project at Wassara called "Framtida borrsystem" that aims to develop a next generation directionally controlled drilling system. The work described in this report covers an analysis of the area of directionally controlled drilling as well as concept development for the mechanical control principle. These are intended to be the basis for a decision regarding the possibility to implement directional drilling in the Wassara system. Through an extensive background research process, a foundation of knowledge was created and used as a basis for concept generation. The concept generation resulted in five concepts for the control mechanism which were analysed and evaluated and led to a final concept for further development. This concept was visualized using 3D models and functional prototypes to provide a better picture of, and to validate, the geometry. Furthermore, stress analysis, interface designs and a draft of an actuation system for the mechanical control principle were conducted. The final concept described in the report met the requirements that were stated initially. The concept was compared to a number of existing systems, which were studied in the analysis of the area of directional drilling, and showed advantageous properties with respect to the circumstances of the project "Framtida borrsystem”.

Magister Scientiae - MSc / Characterisation of fractured rock aquifers is important when dealing with groundwater protection and management. Fractures are often good conduits for water and contaminants, leading to high flow velocities and the fast spread of contaminants in these aquifers. A cost effective methodology is required for the characterisation of the role of individual fractures contributing to flow to boreholes in fractured rock aquifers. Literature shows that some of the conventional methods used to characterise hydraulic properties in fractured rock aquifers are expensive, complicated, time consuming and are associated with some disadvantages such as over-or under- estimations of flow rates. This thesis evaluates the use of Fluid Electrical Conductivity (FEC) logging in fractured rock aquifers. This FEC data are compared to various traditional methods used to determine aquifer hydraulic properties applied at the Franschhoek and Rawsonville research sites. Both these sites were drilled into the fractured rock Table Mountain Group (TMG) Aquifer, forming one of the major aquifers in South Africa. / South Africa

No description available.

Ground-source heat pumps systems (GSHP) are commonly used all over Sweden to supply heat and sometimes cool to different kinds of housings or commercial facilities. Many large installations are by now between 10 and 20 years old. Even when the design of such system has been tackled, rare are the studies that have dealt with following their performance throughout time in detail. Based on conductive heat transfer, the heat extraction process makes the ground temperature decrease when installations are only used for heating. This thesis aims at proposing a method to evaluate how the temperature in a borehole heat exchanger of a GSHP will evolve. The project is focusing on the heat transfer from the ground to the boreholes modelled using Finite Line Source (FLS) based generated g-functions. “g-functions” are non-dimensional parameters characterizing the evolution of the ground thermal resistance enduring variable heat extraction loads. A model using Matlab has been developed and validated against relevant publications. As a case study, the method is applied to an existing 15 years old GSHP installation, composed of 26 boreholes and 3 heat pumps, so as to compare the obtained results with data measured on site. Two sub-borehole fields compose this installation: 14 of them were drilled in 1998 and the remaining 12 in 2009. Measured variable heat extraction loads were superposed using dedicated site g-functions for the two boreholes fields. As a result, a comparison between modelled and calculated heat carrier fluid in the boreholes over the last 6 months is presented here, as well as a 20 years forecast of the ground temperature at the interface with the boreholes.

To achieve greater economic stability, CHP plant operators such as VEAB from Växjö are motivated to search for a new business model that are compatible with their existing facilities while also contribute to increasing the overall revenue of the company. These processes include hydrogen production and biochemical products such as biopolymer and biofuels. However, these processes also produce a substantial amount of heat that needs to be taken care of. Alternatively, the extra heat storage capacity could allow the plant to be more selective of when to produce those heat to maximize profit. Therefore, it is important to investigate different approaches to achieve that, both traditional approach (e,g, convective cooling) and alternative approaches (different large scale underground heat storages). Lake source cooling is also investigated to determine whether it can replace convective cooling as a method of cooling off waste heat from the plant. The technical analysis showed that the alternative approach is certainly promising albeit with more land use (BTES requiring 36 000 m2 against 750 m2 of convectional cooling system) with some limitations that must be addressed when deciding the appropriate approach. In addition, it is found that by increasing the scale of the BTES system, the amount of heat loss per heat capacity reduces while increasing the borehole depth decreases the overall heat loss of the system. The economic analysis showed that when used solely to deal with the waste heat, the alternative approach is costs magnitude more than convective cooling, the alternative costing almost 6 times more than the convective cooling. There are certainly opportunities in the future that can make the BTES system to be a much more feasible choice if additional utilization of the BTES system could be found or potential demand may make the BTES system a more attractive choice to deal with the excess heat that comes with expanding the business of a CHP plant operator.

In 2010, the Ground Source Heat Pumps (GSHPs) market in the European Union went up over one million (1 014 436 units at the end of 2010 according to EUROBSERV’ER 2011). In 2011, it was estimated around 1.25 million according to Bayer et al. (2012). With more than 378 000 units installed in 2010, according to the Swedish heat pump association (SVEP), the Swedish GSHPs market was the first in the EU. As for the French GSHPs market, it was estimated to 151 938 units in service in 2010, which propelled France at the third rank in the EU. However, despite a relatively important number of GSHPs installed in the whole EU, since 2008 GSHP sales have shrank. Even Sweden which has been the most competitive country sees its GSHP sales decline in the first quarter of 2012 (EUROBSERV’ER 2011). This report is the achievement of my Master of Science Thesis project. It also represents the end of my studies at INSA Lyon in France and concludes my degree in Energetic and Environment Engineering. This report deals with the improvement of a heat injection apparatus which is available at KTH (Royal Institute of Technology). This equipment is better known as Thermal Response Test (TRT) apparatus. This kind of equipment improves Borehole Heat Exchangers (BHE) design in terms of size and cost benefits. This technology is generally used to design GSHP installations in both domestic and industrial purposes. It allows to determine really important thermal BHE parameters: the thermal conductivity of the ground and the borehole thermal resistance. The report covers a theoretical description of TRT experiments, the reasons and objectives of such a project, the apparatus design and its construction. The last part is dedicated to a first experimental laboratory results and some problems met during the project course.