TITLE:
Experiments Using Capillary Mat as Ground Heat Exchanger for Ground Source Heat Pump Heating Application
AUTHORS:
Arif Widiatmojo, Shrestha Gaurav, Takeshi Ishihara, Akira Tomigashi, Kasumi Yasukawa, Youhei Uchida, Shohei Kaneko, Mayumi Yoshioka
KEYWORDS:
Horizontal Heat Exchanger, Ground Source Heat Pump, Capillary Mat
JOURNAL NAME:
Energy and Power Engineering,
Vol.11 No.11,
November
18,
2019
ABSTRACT: The cooling and heating of spaces are among the largest sources for
household’s energy demand. Ground Source Heat Pump (GSHP) is a promising
technology to reduce the energy for cooling and heating purposes. However, the
major obstacle hindering the utilization of this technology is the high initial
cost, especially for the installation of ground coupled heat exchanger. The horizontal
closed-loop system offers lower installation cost, as it requires no vertical
borehole construction. Instead, the heat exchangers can be installed in shallow
trenches that may be excavated, by small excavator or even by human labor. This paper presents the comparison of
two different heat exchangers, namely, the capillary mat and the widely
used slinky pipe. Both heat exchangers are connected to a heat pump, where
continuous heating tests were carried out for 165 hours (~7 days) for each
configuration. The purpose of this research is to show the performance of
capillary mat in comparison to slinky pipe. Despite during the entire test for
capillary mat required 6% higher electricity consumption, compared to slinky
heat exchanger, the results still suggest the potential use of capillary mat as
alternative to slinky heat exchanger. Additionally, the results also highlight
the high hydraulic resistance of installed capillary mat heat exchangers may
become the major disadvantage of the capillary mat.