Ground source heat pumps

GSHP

Shallow geothermal energy

Introduction – EU energy targets

• EU Targets 2020
– 20% reduction in Greenhouse Gases (GHG) emissions compared to 1990,
– RES share of 20% in the final energy consumption, and
– Increase energy efficiency of 20% (which means to reduce primary energy
consumption in 20% compared to the projected energy consumption in 2007)

• EU Targets 2030
– 40% reduction in Greenhouse Gases (GHG) emissions compared to 1990,
– RES share of 27% in the final energy consumption, and
– Increase energy efficiency of 27%

• EU Targets 2050
– decrease the carbon emissions by 80% in relation to 1990 levels until 2050

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Introduction – PT energy targets

Global Portugal energy sustainability targets:

• PT Targets 2020
– 18% to 23% reduction in Greenhouse Gases (GHG) emissions compared to 2005,
– Increase energy efficiency of 25% (which means to reduce primary energy
consumption in 25%)
– RES share of 31% in the final energy consumption
» With a RES share of 60% in total electricity generation.

• PT Targets 2030
– 30% to 40% reduction in Greenhouse Gases (GHG) emissions compared to
2005,

“Energy efficiency is one of the most cost effective ways to enhance

security of energy supply, and to reduce emissions of GHG and it can be
seen as the Europe's biggest energy resource. “

Introduction – Buildings sector

Buildings sector in EU ( 2/3 residential + 1/3 Services ):

• 40% of the final energy consumption and 36% of the total GHG emissions
• high potential for energy efficiency (EE improvement building envelope
and final appliances)
• key sector to reach the EU sustainability targets

Final energy savings potential in EU 27 in 2020, as percentage of the projections done in

2007 (Source : European Commission, 2011)
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Introduction – Buildings (space conditioning)

Buildings space heating in EU, 2012:

• 58% of the final energy in Total buildings (45% Natural Gas

Boilers)

• Space heating 23% of the Total Final Energy Consumption

in EU

EU Buildings space heating energy mix

Buildings sector in PT ( 58% residential + 42% Services)

• 28% of the final energy consumption in Portugal

• Electricity represents 75% of final energy in Service

Buildings and 42% of residential buildings

• Space heating and space cooling represent each 20% of

residential buildings energy consumption

Electricity share by end-use in

Service buildings in PT

Introduction – Earth Energy

Maintaining a comfortable temperature inside a building can require a significant amount

of energy. Separate heating and cooling systems are often used to maintain the desired air

temperature, and the energy required to operate these systems generally comes from:
electricity, fossil fuels, or biomass.
Solar Energy Distribution

Earth Energy is available

on-site, and in massive
quantities.

• Ground transports heat slowly and

has a high heat storage capacity.

• Its temperature changes slowly

along months or years, depending
on the depth

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Introduction – Earth Energy

The earth is warmer than the ambient air in the winter and cooler than the ambient air in the
summer.

Typical Average Monthly Temperature in Canada and Typical Soil Temperature Variation with depth
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Heat pumps - work principle

• In nature, heat transfer occurs from high-temperature mediums to low temperature ones without
requiring any device.

• The inverse, which is transfer heat from a low temperature medium to a high temperature medium,
requires special devices operating in a thermodynamic cycle called refrigeration.

• To accomplish this energy transfer, the refrigerator receives external energy in the form of work or
heat from the surroundings.

The refrigeration cycle most frequently used

is the

vapor-compression refrigeration cycle

which involves four main components:

a compressor, a condenser, an
expansion valve and an evaporator.

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Heat pumps - work principle

Vapor-compression refrigeration cycle

• In the vapor-compression refrigeration cycle, the refrigerant enters in the compressor as a gas and
is compressed to the condenser pressure.

• It leaves the compressor at a relatively high temperature and cools down and condenses as it
flows through the coils of the condenser by rejecting heat to the surrounding medium.

• Then the refrigerant enters into a capillary tube or an expansion valve where its pressure and
temperature drop drastically due to the throttling effect.

• The low-temperature refrigerant then enters into the evaporator, where it evaporates by absorbing
heat from the refrigerated space.

• The cycle is completed as the refrigerant leaves the evaporator and reenters in the compressor.

Heat pumps

Heat Pumps (HP):

• A heat pump is a device that absorbs heat from a relatively low temperature heat source and
releases it to a warmer medium.

• Heat pumps are designed to move thermal energy in the opposite direction of spontaneous
heat flow by transferring heat from a low temperature to a higher temperature medium.

• Heat pumps absorbs heat from a low-temperature source (TL), such as water, soil, or cold outside
air in winter, and supplies this heat to the high-temperature (TH) medium (to the inside building).

• The external power (e.g. electric) used by the heat pump is to accomplish the work of transferring
energy from the cold medium to the warm medium and not to generate directly heating or cooling.
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Heat pumps work principle

Source: Brio Energy.All

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Heat pumps
Heat Pumps (HP):

• Refrigerators and heat pumps operate on the same cycle, but differ in their objectives.

• The purpose of a refrigerator is to maintain the refrigerated space at a low temperature by

removing heat from it.

• In opposite, the objective of a heat pump is to maintain a heated space at a high temperature.

• Heat pumps, if reversible, can also work as a refrigerator or as an air conditioner, removing the
heat from a room or a building during the summer season and release it to the outside
environment. .

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Heat pumps classification

Heat Pumps (HP):

• The heat pumps classification depends on the used heat source.

• The most common are those that use air as a heat source
(Winter - absorbs heat from the “cold” air temperature and release it into the “warmer” air inside the building)

called Air Source Heat Pumps (ASHPs),

http://how-do-you-x.com/how-the-dimplex-a-class-air-source-heat-pump-provides-heat-for-your-
home_f145fb40c.html

• those that use water as the heat source,

called Water Heat Pumps (WSHPs).

• and those that use the soil or ground

as the heat source, called

Ground Source Heat Pumps (GSHPs),

Open loop

Closed loop

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Heat pumps classification

Air Source Heat Pumps (ASHP):

• When heat source is the outside air. ASHP are divided in air-to-air HPs and air-to-water HPs,
according the heat transfer fluid used for energy distribution (air or water).

• Air-to-air heat pumps are the most common and are particularly suitable for factory-built unitary
heat pumps (mono-split).
http://how-do-you-x.com/how-the-dimplex-a-class-air-source-heat-pump-provides-heat-for-your-home_f145fb40c.html

Water Source Heat Pumps (WSHP):

• when heat pumps rely on water as the heat source.

• The water can be ground-water extracted from wells, lakes, ponds or stream, or water from solar
collectors.

• When they use ground-water they are also classified as ground source heat pumps.

• They are also divided in two groups according to the HTF used for energy distribution.

• Water-to-air HPs use air to transmit heat to or from the conditioned space.

• Water-to-water HPs use water as the heat source and sink for heating and cooling.

• Heating/cooling changeover can be done in the refrigerant circuit or in the water circuits.

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Ground Source Heat Pump (GSHP)
TL TH

Ground Source Heat Pumps (GSHP):

TH TL
• when heat pumps use the ground as a heat source and sink.

• However, the classification GSHP is typically used when the HTF fluid circulates in pipes
embedded in the ground, called Ground Heat Exchangers (GHE) or Borehole Heat Exchangers
(BHE).

• The most common system is the refrigerant-to-water heat exchangers system, where water or an
antifreeze solution is pumped through horizontal, vertical, or coiled heat exchangers. The
typical HTF used for energy distribution in GSHP systems is also water.

• Using the ground as a heat source or sink in space conditioning systems is attractive from a
thermodynamic point of view, as the ground temperature is nearly constant and generally much
closer to room conditions than the outdoor dry-bulb or wet-bulb temperatures over the whole
year.
• This is the main reason why GSHPs are more efficient than air source heat pumps

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Ground Source Heat Pump (GSHP)

A GSHP system consists of three elements:

• A ground heat exchanger, which collects heat from the ground.

• A water-to-water or water-to-air heat pump, which raises the heat collected to a useful temperature
and transfers it to the house.

• A heat distribution system which provides the heat to the house for example underfloor heating.

Two types of closed-loop system are possible:

• Direct expansion (DX) – where refrigerant is circulated directly through the ground loop

• Indirect – where a water/antifreeze solution circulates through the ground loop and energy is
transferred to or from the heat pump refrigerant circuit via a heat exchanger.
– GSHPs are most commonly indirect systems.

GSHPs can be used to provide

– space heating

– domestic water heating and,

– if required, space cooling

» to a wide range of building types and sizes.

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Ground Source Heat Pump (GSHP)

Typical Heat Pump Unit For residential

applications and small commercial systems:

• GSHP systems: a “water-to-air” unit ranging

in size from 3.5 kW to 35 kW of cooling
capacity.

• the fluid carrying heat to and from the

earth connection is water or a water/
antifreeze mix.

• the heat distribution system inside the

building relies on hot or cold air

• GSHP systems can also be a “water-to-water” units where the heat distribution system
inside the building relies on hot water feeding radiators, radiant floor heating or fancoils
(water-air), which can replace existent conventional centralized heating systems.
• For space cooling purposes, fancoils (water-air) and radiant ceiling are more
appropriate.

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Ground Source Heat Pump (GSHP)

How it works?

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Ground Source Heat Pump (GSHP)

Heat pump purpose:

• Absorbs heat from a low-temperature source (TL), such as water, soil, or cold outside air in winter,
and supplies this heat to the high-temperature (TH) medium (to the inside building).

• When reversible operates like air conditioning – the heat is absorbed from building and released to
outside

Heat pumps efficiency

• Typically, the HPs efficiency is given by COP for heating

EER for cooling
manufacturers by the
t t
SPF = ∫ Q.dt ∫ P .dt
• More recently, the seasonal performance factor (SPF) is being used 0 0

= system efficiency during a complete heating season

= the ratio between the total thermal energy supplied (output) over the total electric energy
consumed (input, including auxiliary devices)
SCOP for heating
SEER for cooling
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Ground Source Heat Pump (GSHP)

Vapor-
Vapor-compression refrigeration cycle

a) Refrigerator b) Heat pump

QL QL TL QH QH TH
EER = COPR = = ≈ COPHP = = ≈
Wnet ,in QH − QL TH − TL Wnet ,in QH − QL TH − TL

COP HP = EER + 1 = COPR + 1

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Ground Source Heat Pump (GSHP)

Heat pumps efficiency

• The SPF can vary significantly depending on a variety of parameters:

– local climate,

– the operation mode,

– the operation period,

– the heat demand of the building and

– he building heating system, e.g. radiators, radiant floor heating or fancoils

• For GSHP additional parameters associated to the boreholes influence its performance:

like the soil type,

depth of borehole,

velocity in the pipe,

thermal conductivity of grout, the thermal resistance and heat exchange rate, etc.

• The most critical factor is the temperature difference between the heat source and the heat sink

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Ground Source Heat Pump (GSHP)

Heat pump efficiency:

• The most critical factor is the temperature difference

between the heat source and the heat sink.
TL TH
• A lower temperature differential corresponds to a higher
efficiency of the system.

• This is the main reason why GSHPs are more efficient

TH TL
than air source heat pumps

QH QH TH
COPHP = = ≈
Wnet ,in QH − QL TH − TL

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Ground Source Heat Pump (GSHP)

Heat pumps efficiencies used in

literature and given by
manufacturers

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HEAT PUMPS ENERGY LABELING AND ECODESIGN

New energy efficiency classification for heat pumps depending on the application:

AIR-to-AIR: AIR or Water-to-Water:

• SCOP for heating - Seasonal • For water based central heating and water heaters

Coefficient Of Performance • Seasonal space heating energy efficiency factor (ηs) which

• SEER for cooling - Seasonal takes into account the necessary primary energy consumption

Energy Efficiency Ratio is calculated by the ratio between SCOP and the primary
energy factor for electricity (e.g. =2.5)
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HEAT PUMPS ENERGY LABELING AND ECODESIGN

New energy efficiency classification for heat pumps depending on the application:

Heat pump minimum energy efficiency

requirements for water based central heating

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Types of ground heat echangers

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Types of ground heat echangers Vertical heat exchanger

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Types of ground heat echangers Vertical heat exchanger

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Types of ground heat echangers

Examples of Vertical heat exchanger configurations

Coaxial heat exchanger

According a study developed within the Ground-Hit Project the double U heat
exchanger presents higher efficiency than the others two configurations. Double U heat exchanger:
two inlet pipes and two outlet
The efficiencies of the double U-tube GHEs is higher than the single U-tube pipes
GHE, although their building cost is also higher by 20%
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Types of ground heat exchangers Vertical heat exchanger

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Types of ground heat echangers Heat exchanger in piles

Energy piles are bi-functional foundation elements used as structural

support as well as ground heat exchanger for shallow geothermal
energy systems.

For little additional construction cost, the energy

loops of a geothermal exchange system can be
buried in the concrete piles, retaining walls and
other building infrastructure.

In a new construction, it is cheaper to install

geothermal loops in the foundations than it is to
install them in a separate borefield.

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Types of ground heat echangers Horizontal heat exchanger

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Types of ground heat echangers Horizontal heat exchanger

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Types of ground heat echangers Horizontal heat exchanger

vertical horizontal
coil coil

The installation of an horizontal ground heat exchanger is cheaper than the vertical ground
heat exchanger, due to the drilling costs, but requires higher space available in the
surroundings.
In other hand, the extracted thermal energy has higher variation due to the influence of the
exterior temperature at a smaller depth.

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Indicative costs of a GSHP system for a house

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Comparison of heat systems for a house

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Comparison of heat systems for a house

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Heat pumps – GO2 emissions savings

Minimum heat pump SPF per country to have CO2 emissions savings in
space heating when switching NG boilers by HPs.

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Heat pumps RES share

In 2012,
2012, heat pumps represented 4.3% of the total renewable energy consumed in EU.
EU.

Breakdown by RES technologies for total RES target in EU-

EU-28, 2012 (EEA, 2014)

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Heat pumps RES share

According to guidelines for calculating

renewable energy from heat pumps an
electricity generation efficiency of 45.5%
must be used leading to a minimum SPF of
2.5.

SPF of 4.5

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Heat pumps market

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