A heat transfer model of a horizontal ground heat exchanger

R. E. Mironov, Yu. I. Shtern, M. Yu. Shtern, and M. S. Rogachev

Citation: AIP Conference Proceedings 1727, 020015 (2016); doi: 10.1063/1.4945970

View online: http://dx.doi.org/10.1063/1.4945970
View Table of Contents: http://aip.scitation.org/toc/apc/1727/1
Published by the American Institute of Physics
 A Heat Transfer Model of a Horizontal Ground
Heat Exchanger
R. E. Mironova), Yu. I. Shtern, M. Yu. Shtern and M. S. Rogachev

National Research University of Electronic Technology - MIET, Bld. 1, Shokin Square, Zelenograd,
Moscow, Russia, 124498
a)
Corresponding author: r.e.mironov@gmail.com.

Abstract. Ground-source heat pumps are gaining popularity in Eastern Europe, especially those
which are using the horizontal ground heat exchanger (GHX). Due to the difficulty of accessing
GHX after the installation, materials and the quality of the installation must satisfy the very high
requirements. An inaccurate calculation of GHX can be the reason of a scarcity of heat power in
a crucial moment. So far, there isn’t any appropriate mathematical description of the horizontal
GHX which takes into account the mutual influence of GHX pipes on each other. To solve this
problem we used the temperature wave approach. As a result, a mathematical model which
describes the dependence of the heat transfer rate per unit length of the horizontal GHX pipe on
the thermal properties of soil, operating time of GHX and the distance between pipes was
obtained. Using this model, heat transfer rates per unit length of a horizontal GHX were plotted
as functions of the distance between pipes and operating time. The modeling shows that heat
transfer rates decreases rapidly with the distance between pipes lower then 2 meters. After the
launch of heat pump, heat power of GHX is reduced during the first 20 - 30 days and get steady
after that. The obtained results correlate with experimental data. Therefore the proposed
mathematical model can be used to design a horizontal GHX with the optimal characteristics,
and predict its capability during operation.
Keywords: Heat pump; Horizontal ground heat exchanger; Mathematical model; Heating;
Conditioning.
PACS: 88.10.gc.

INTRODUCTION
The maintenance of comfortable temperature conditions in buildings demands an
enormous quantity of energy. According to IEA up to half of world's energy
consumption falls to the heat production. Due to this striving for the most efficient
way of using primary energy is one of central purposes in science and technology. The
use of alternative heat energy sources is one of the promising methods to solve that
problem. One of the most efficient ways to utilize that energy is the heat pump.
The ground is the most widespread source of renewable heat energy. Heat pumps
that use the ground as a heat source or sink are called Geothermal or Ground-source
heat pumps (GSHP). Significant energy savings can be achieved through the use of
GSHP in place of conventional air-conditioning systems and air-source heat pumps.
GSHP is divided into two main groups. The first uses the vertical ground heat
exchanger (GHX) and the second uses the horizontal GHX. Horizontal GHX are more
appropriate for private houses, when vertical GHX can be used either for private

International Advances in Applied Physics and Materials Science Congress & Exhibition (APMAS ’15)
AIP Conf. Proc. 1727, 020015-1–020015-10; doi: 10.1063/1.4945970
Published by AIP Publishing. 978-0-7354-1374-0/$30.00

020015-1
houses and residential buildings. Nowadays up to 40% of all GSHP use horizontal
GHX [1].
Due to the difficulty of accessing GHX after they installation, materials and
assembling quality must satisfy the very high requirements. One of the primary
problems of the construction GHX is the calculation of heat power which the collector
can throw down into the ground (cooling mode) or absorb from the ground (heating
mode). The real heat power depends on several factors: thermophysical properties of
soil, climate, depth of GHX deposition, and collector construction especially interval
between tubes.
An inaccurate calculation of GHX can be the reason of a scarcity of heat power in a
crucial moment. But if we would install GHX with size bigger then necessary it would
lead to additional capital costs and also enlarged operating costs during the
maintenance of the heat pump.
To solve this problem we propose modeling of horizontal GHX and mathematical
model to predict rate of heat exchange between GHX and the ground during the GHSP
operation.

A HEAT TRANSFER MODEL

We considered mutual influence between GHX and the ground to state boundary
conditions of mathematical model which is intended for description of the heat
exchange process.
The ground can be considered as two-phase (dry) or three-phase (moist) system
which is an aggregate of a tremendous amount of solid particles with different forms
and sizes divided by space filled by liquid and gas or both.
Thermal conditions modelling of a solid requires to determine boundary and initial
conditions. For modeling we used the structure of horizontal GHX (Fig. 1). Where hb
is the depth of GHX installation. In our modeling we didn’t consider year-round
operation of GHX. According to Clean Energy Decision Support Centre [2] we
considered only the hottest and the coldest months of GHX exploitation in climatic
conditions of Moscow.

Figure 1. Structural scheme of the horizontal GHX.

The penetration depth of daily intensity changes ranges from several tens of
centimeters to meter and a half [3]. This depends from exact soil type and climatic

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conditions. The penetration depth of seasonal intensity changes usually is 10-20
meters. The temperature regime of the soil that is below is formed by influence of heat
energy which comes from Earth interior, and virtually doesn’t depend on climatic
conditions changes. The temperature of the soil increases with the depth at 3 °C per
100 m [3].
Because we chose a one-month period to model horizontal GHX, we assume that
weather conditions don’t influence on temperature of the ground at the GHX
installation level during that period.
The radiogenic heat from the center of the Earth influences minor effect in
comparison with the solar radiation. Its power ranges from 0.05 to 0.12 W/m2, which
depends on a location. Therefore, in mathematical modeling we assume that horizontal
GHX is installing in the endless body of the soil which temperature equals the
temperature at horizontal GHX installation level, which can be taken from statistical
data,

‫ݐ‬ȁఛୀ଴ ൌ ‫ݐ‬଴ (1)

where τ is GSHP running time and t0 is the temperature at horizontal GHX installation
level.
There is only one heat source in the body of the soil which we take into account. It
is a series of pipes of the horizontal GHX. This heat source is external and can be
whether positive (in a summer) or negative (in a winter) relative to the soil. It is also
temperature-dependent. This means that its power depends on the temperature
difference between GHX and the soil. That difference always changes with the
running time of GHSP.
Thus the aim of the mathematical modeling is to calculate the power of the heat
source (horizontal GHX) at any time during GHSP operation.

ONE PIPE GHX

At first, we considered the case of only one pipe of the horizontal GHX. Thus, we
didn’t take into account interaction of pipes to begin with. Fig. 2 shows this case. We
assumed that the temperature of pipe surface is time-constant. Consequently we had
boundary conditions of the First Type.

Figure 2. Boundary conditions for the one pipe GHX modeling.

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 In the modeling we used solutions of differential equations which describe heat
conduction in solids form works [4] and [5]. The soil temperature as a function of time
and length varies as follows:

‫ ݐ‬ൌ ‫ݐ‬଴ ൅ Ʌሺ– ୱ െ – ଴ ሻ (2)

where θ is the dimensionless temperature factor which depends on time, distance from
the GHX pipe and the soil thermal properties. Equation for it,
ଵ ఎିଵ ሺఎିଵሻξி௢ ఎିଵ ሺଽିଶఎିଽఎమ ሻி௢ ଶ ఎିଵ
ߠൌ ݁‫ ݂ܿݎ‬ቀଶξி௢ቁ ൅ ସఎඥఎ
݅݁‫ ݂ܿݎ‬ቀଶξி௢ቁ ൅ ଷଶఎమ ඥఎ
݅ ݁‫ ݂ܿݎ‬ቀଶξி௢ቁ ǥ. (3)
ඥఎ

This equation hasn’t exact analytical solution. Even obtaining numerical solutions
is rather complicated task. There are only limited sets of values that are obtained and
presented in literature [6]. These are calculated only for specific values of Fo and η
which aren’t enough to model horizontal GHX. Thus we carried out a regression
analysis of known values of Fo and η to obtain extrapolation function for the values
which we are concerned about to model GHX. The regression analysis was carried out
with QtiPlot using the Levenberg-Marquardt algorithm. We proposed next equation,
which complies with Equation (3),
ఎಲ ఎିଵ
ߠ ൌ ݁‫ ݂ܿݎ‬ቀ ቁ (4)
ඥఎ ஻

The extrapolation was carried out for each value of Fo. Hence, there were obtained
a set of values of A and B. Then we deduced formulas for A(Fo) and B(Fo) after
approximation,
௔
‫ ܣ‬ൌ ܽଵ ݈݊ ቀோഓమቁ ൅ ܽଶ (5)
బ

‫ ܤ‬ൌ ܾଵ Žሺ‫݋ܨ‬ሻ ൅ ඥܾଶ ‫݋ܨ‬ (6)

where а1 = 0.026±0.002; а2 = 0.084±0.006, b1 = 1.7±0.1, b2 = 0.61±0.06.

Standard deviation of A(Fo) and B(Fo) is 0.008 and 0.5 respectively. Consequently
two-dimension extrapolation was carried out and as result we obtained equation for the
temperature factor which depends on η and Fo:
ഀഓ
బǤబమల೗೙ቆ మ ቇశబǤబఴర
ఎ ೃబ ఎିଵ
ߠൌ ݁‫ ݂ܿݎ‬ቀ ቁ (7)
ඥఎ ଵǤ଻ ୪୬ሺி௢ሻାξ଴Ǥ଺ଵி௢

Fourier number, in our case, is defined by the thermal diffusivity of the soil, the
radius of GHX pipe and the time of the influence of GHX on the soil.
ఈఛ
‫ ݋ܨ‬ൌ (8)
ோబమ

Therefore, in terms of variables r and τ, Eq. (7) becomes,

020015-4
 ഀഓ
బǤబమల೗೙ቆ మ ቇశబǤబఴర
ሺ௥Τ ோబ ሻ ೃబ ‫ۇ‬ ௥Τ ோబ ିଵ ‫ۊ‬
ߠ ൌ ݁‫ۈ ݂ܿݎ‬ ‫ۋ‬ (9)
ඥ௥Τோబ ഀഓ బǤలభഀഓ
ଵǤ଻௟௡ቆ మ ቇାඨ మ
ೃబ ೃబ
‫ۉ‬ ‫ی‬

This equation was used to calculate soil temperature changes during the one pipe
GHX operates. For GHX modeling it is necessary to know the thermal properties of
soil where GHX operates. There are enough data about it and monthly soil
temperatures depending on the depth in the literature [2, 3, 7].
During the mathematical modeling of GHX we took that a size of GHX pipes is 3/4
inches, which is used widely in Russia. We took data of the monthly soil temperatures
from the I.A. Korneva’s and M.A. Lokoschenko’s research based on a statistical
treatment of measurements of soil temperatures in Moscow from 1966 to 2010. We
considered the sandy soil, which has the following thermal properties [8]: λ = 1.7
W/(m·K); а = 3·10–3 m2/h. The depth of GHX installation was 1.6 meters. The pipe
size was neglected because size of pipes used for the horizontal GHX are less than 2
inches in most cases [2, 3, 7]. We also considered the surface temperature of the pipe
as time-constant.
The main aim of mathematical modeling, of cause, is to calculate power of GHX.
This power is ability of GHX of accumulating heat from the soil or dissipating to. The
main problem is this parameter depends on the temperature difference between the
pipe surface and the soil near this pipe. That temperature difference constantly changes
and can’t reach the equilibrium.
In accordance with Fourier’s law, the rate of heat transfer through the surface of
pipe is given by
డ௧
‫ ݍ‬ൌ െߣ డ௥ (10)

A temperature gradient in our case can be given by

డ௧ ௧ೞି௧బ
 ൌ െ‫ܩ‬ (11)
డ௥ ோబ

If we differentiate Eq. (4), we find that Eq. (11) can be written, as follows

ଵ ஺ఎಲ ఎିଵ ଶఎಲ ௫ିଵ ଶ ఎಲ ఎିଵ

‫ܩ‬ൌ ቆ ݁‫ ݂ܿݎ‬ቀ ቁെ ݁‫ ݌ݔ‬൬െ ቀ ቁ ൰൅ ݁‫ ݂ܿݎ‬ቀ ቁቇ (12)
ඥఎ ఎ ஻ ஻ξగ ஻ ଶఎ ஻

Therefore, we have a rather complicated function of the temperature gradient.

Although we need to determine this only close to the pipe surface that is that r = R0
and η = 1. Given these conditions the temperature gradient can be written as
డ௧ ଶ ଵ ௧ೞି௧బ
ቂ ቃ ൌቀ ൅ െ ‫ܣ‬ቁ (13)
డ௥ ௥ୀோబ ஻ξగ ଶ ோబ

In order to determine the heat transfer rate per unit length of pipe, the heat transfer
rate through the surface of the pipe is divided by the surface area per unit length of
pipe, this yields;

020015-5
 ଶ ଵ
ܲ௛ ൌ െʹߨߣሺ‫ݐ‬௦ െ ‫ݐ‬଴ ሻ ቀ஻ξగ ൅ ଶ െ ‫ܣ‬ቁ (14)

MULTIPIPE GHX
Presence of the discrete heat sources and its mutual influence complicates the
mathematical modeling of the system GHX - the soil. To solve this task, we regarded
the horizontal GHX as three pipes with space between them equals R, as shown in Fig.
3.

Figure 3. Boundary conditions for the multipipe GHX modeling.

Because we assumed that all three pipes have the same surface temperature, the
outermost pipes influence equally on the middle one. We also assumed that a GHX
pipe influences only on the next one.
Consider how the left pipe (Fig. 4) influences on the middle one. This influence
increases with decreasing the distance between the heat sources and with increasing
operation time of GHX. Hence, the left heat source try to change the surface
temperature of the middle pipe but due to the boundary conditions this temperature is
time independent and can be changed by other heat sources. Thus we can take into
account the influence as generation of a new heat source with the surface temperature
equals (ts –∆t). It calls “the reflection of the temperature wave” [6]. The generated heat
source take into account that the power of the middle heat source is suppressed by the
left one.
According to Eq. (3), the surface temperature of the middle pipe should vary
influenced by the left one, as follows
ȟ‫ ݐ‬ൌ ߠሺ‫ݐ‬௦ െ ‫ݐ‬଴ ሻ (15)

Thus, the surface temperature of the heat source that is generated by influence of
the left pipe is
‫ݐ‬ூ ൌ ‫ݐ‬଴ െ ߠሺ‫ݐ‬௦ െ ‫ݐ‬଴ ሻ (16)

020015-6
 Therefore, we can write an expression for the heat transfer rate per unit length of
the generated heat source
ଶ ଵ
ܲ௛ூ ൌ ߠʹߨߣሺ‫ݐ‬௦ െ ‫ݐ‬଴ ሻ ቀ
஻ξగ
൅ ଶ െ ‫ܣ‬ቁ (17)

A disappearance of the minus in the right part of Eq. (17) shows that the generated
heat source always acts opposite to the main. For all sources generated by a pipe of
GHX (Fig. 4), the main heat source is the pipe that is situated at the same place where
generated sources are.
However, the question about the influence of the left heat source isn’t solved. The
reason is that the generated heat source also has a reverse influence on the source that
it was generated by. This reflection of the temperature wave repeats infinitely.
In order to solve this case, we introduced the following definitions. All heat sources
generated at the middle pipe (Fig. 4) are induced heat sources and all heat sources
generated at the left pipe by the reverse influence are counter-induced heat sources.
Thus, all counter-induced heat sources intensify the influence of the left pipe on the
middle one.
The surface temperature of induced and counter-induced heat sources are denoted
by tIj and tMi, respectively, where indices j and i are levels (numbers) of the heat
sources. These are defined as follows. The left pipe generates the heat source of the
first level (j=1) at the middle pipe. This source, in turn, generates the counter-induced
heat source of the first level (i=1) at the left pipe. Further, that counter-induced heat
source generates the other heat source of second level (j=2) at the middle pipe and so
on (j→∞, i→∞).
Using Eq. (16), we can write expressions for surface temperatures of any induced
or counter-induced heat sources

‫ݐ‬ூ௝ ൌ ‫ݐ‬଴ െ ߠ ଶ௝ିଵ ሺ‫ݐ‬௦ െ ‫ݐ‬଴ ሻ (18)

‫ݐ‬ெ௜ ൌ ‫ݐ‬଴ ൅ ߠ ଶ௜ ሺ‫ݐ‬௦ െ ‫ݐ‬଴ ሻ (19)

From Eq. (17) - (19), heat transfer rates per unit length of induced and counter-
induced heat sources are
ଶ ଵ
ܲ௛ூ௝ ൌ ߠ ଶ௝ିଵ ή ʹߨߣሺ‫ݐ‬௦ െ ‫ݐ‬଴ ሻ ቀ ൅ െ ‫ܣ‬ቁ (20)
஻ξగ ଶ
and
ଶ ଵ
ܲ௛ெ௜ ൌ ߠ ଶ௜ ή ʹߨߣሺ‫ݐ‬௦ െ ‫ݐ‬଴ ሻ ቀ஻ξగ ൅ ଶ െ ‫ܣ‬ቁ (21)

Therefore, total influence of the left GHX pipe on the middle pipe equals the sum
of heat transfer rates per unit length of all induced heat sources, which can be written
as
ଶ ଵ
ܲுூ ൌ σஶ
௝ୀଵ ܲ௛ூ௝ ൌ ʹߨߣሺ‫ݐ‬௦ െ ‫ݐ‬଴ ሻ ቀ ൅ െ ‫ܣ‬ቁ σஶ
௝ୀଵ ߠ
ଶ௝ିଵ
(22)
஻ξగ ଶ

To simplify this equation we can write the sum from the right part as

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 ஶ ଵ
෌௝ୀଵ ߠ ଶ௝ିଵ ൌ ൫σஶ ଶ ௝
௝ୀ଴ሺߠ ሻ െ ͳ൯ (23)
ఏ

Thus, as provided by Eqs. (22) and (23), we obtain a final expression for the sum of
heat transfer rates per unit length of all induced heat sources
ଶ ଵ ఏ
ܲுூ ൌ σஶ
௝ୀଵ ܲ௛ூ௝ ൌ ʹߨߣሺ‫ݐ‬௦ െ ‫ݐ‬଴ ሻ ቀ஻ξగ ൅ ଶ െ ‫ܣ‬ቁ ଵିఏమ (24)

However, the question about the mutual influence between the left and the middle
pipes isn’t solved because it’s necessary to take into consideration all heat sources that
were induced by the middle pipe. Those sources reduce the influence of the left pipe
on the middle as well as vice-versa. This circumstance can be taken into account by
the next equation
ଶ ଵ ఏ
ܲுெ ൌ σஶ
௜ୀଵ ܲ௛ெ௜ ൌ െʹߨߣሺ‫ݐ‬௦ െ ‫ݐ‬଴ ሻ ቀ஻ξగ ൅ ଶ െ ‫ܣ‬ቁ ଵିఏమ (25)

which was deduced from Eq. (21) similar to the derivation of the Eq. (24).
Therefore, using Eqs. (14), (24) and (25), we can write the expression for the heat
transfer rate per unit length of pipe which take into consideration the mutual influence
between GHX pipes
ଶ ଵ ଵିఏ
ܲு ൌ ܲ௛ ൅ ʹܲுூ ൅ ʹܲுெ ൌ െʹߨߣሺ‫ݐ‬௦ െ ‫ݐ‬଴ ሻ ቀ ൅ െ ‫ܣ‬ቁ (26)
஻ξగ ଶ ଵାఏ

the factor 2 in front of PHI and PHM takes into account influences of the left and the
right pipes on the middle (Fig. 4).
Using this mathematical model, heat transfer rates per unit length of a horizontal
GHX were plotted as functions of the distance between pipes and operating time (Fig.
4 and Fig. 5).

Figure 4. The heat transfer rate per unit length of GHX pipe as a function of distance between pipes at
different pipe surface temperatures in July in Moscow (t0 = 12 °C): 1 - ts= 30 °C; 2 - ts= 20 °C; 3 - ts= 15
°C; and in January (t0 = 4 °C): 4 – ts= –10 °C; 5 – ts= –5 °C; 6 – ts= 0 °C.

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Figure 5. The heat transfer rate per unit length of GHX pipe as a function of operating time at different
pipe surface temperatures in July in Moscow (t0 = 12 °C): 1 - ts= 30 °C; 2 - ts= 20 °C; 3 - ts= 15 °C; and
in January (t0 = 4 °C): 4 – ts= –10 °C; 5 – ts= –5 °C; 6 – ts= 0 °C.

The modeling shows that heat transfer rates per unit length decreases rapidly with
the distance between pipes lower then 2 meters. After the launch of heat pump, heat
power of GHX is reduced during the first 20 - 30 days and get steady after that. These
results have a good level of agreement with experimental data [3].
There we can see the converse: the lager the distance, the lower the heat transfer
rate per unit area. Thus, during designing of the horizontal GHX, it is necessary to find
the compromise between the cost of GHX installation and operation, which depends
mostly on pipe length, and efficiency of the sole area usage. The proposed model can
find this compromise.

CONCLUSIONS
To solve the problem of the horizontal GHX modeling we used the temperature
wave approach. As a result, a mathematical model that describes the dependence of the
heat transfer rate per unit length of the horizontal GHX pipe on the thermal properties
of soil, operating time of GHX and the distance between pipes was obtained.
Using this model, heat transfer rates per unit length of a horizontal GHX were
plotted as functions of the distance between pipes and operating time. The modeling
shows that heat transfer rates decreases rapidly with the distance between pipes lower
then 2 meters. After the launch of heat pump, heat power of GHX is reduced during
the first 20 - 30 days and get steady after that. The obtained results correlate with
experimental data. Therefore the proposed mathematical model can be used to design a
horizontal GHX with the optimal characteristics, and predict its capability during
operation.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
This work has been carried out under a sponsorship of the Ministry of Education
and Science of the Russian Federation project number 14.578.21.0016 (UN
RFMEFI57814X0016).

020015-9
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