Geothermal Heating

The heat pumps that make use of the heat trapped inside the earth also called as geothermal energy are known as geothermal heat exchangers. They are also known as name ground source heat pumps. These pumps can work to heat and cool the indoor spaces.

Here you go with some interesting facts on these heat exchangers:

1. All heat exchangers are featured by an internal and external loop. Each loop contains a refrigerant. These loops give heat or cooling directly to the ground or a building .

2. The types of loops used in these exchangers are open loops, closed vertical loops and closed horizontal loops. These heat exchangers are pushed into the ground vertically by the use of hydraulic rigs.

3. The ground source heat exchangers lead to a rise in temperature of the transfer liquid to about 40 degrees. The systems makes the liquid ideal for heating systems under the floor and radiators with low temperature.

4. The process of installation is repeated. The installations are cross connected to achieve a closed loop installation. Then a heat transfer liquid is sent through the ground source heat exchanger ground array.

5. The installation depths can vary based on the soil groundwater conditions and also the heat yield requirement from the ground. The thermal conductivity is also required to be known.

Next, lets discuss the ways by which geothermal heat exchangers are installed.

The heat exchangers are installed either horizontally or vertically. Horizontally installed heat exchangers are placed in shallow trenches over a large area. Vertically installed heat exchangers require less surface area, with installations at a distance of 3-5m. These exchangers usually vary from 15m to 60m deep.

The first type is vertical installations which has two methods, namely-: Hydraulic push method-Through this method, the heat exchangers are pushed into the ground using hydraulic rigs. This method is quite fast. It produces very less ground disturbance. It cannot be used in case of thick rock strata. Boreholes-This is the second method. Boreholes are drilled by rotary drilled methods or by cable tool percussive boring. This method proves to be slow. It also produces a large amount of soil. The method can be used in rocky terrains.

The next type of installation is horizontal installation. This involves the following methods. Horizontal loops-Piping is installed in trenches that are 1.5 2 m in depth. This system can be easily installed below water. The drawback is that it occupies a large surface area. This further obstructs further developments. This method creates a mess of any land.

The heat exchanger systems are used to heat swimming pools and football pitches, air conditioning for factories and offices. With low maintenance facility, these systems are compact and dont require fuel tank or boiler.

This discussion on geothermal heat exchangers would surely help to clarify your understanding on this subject with the valuable information.

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