Uncovering the Efficiency and Performance of Ground-Source Heat Pumps in Cold Regions: A Case Study of a Public Building in Northern China

Abstract

In cold regions, due o the impact of climatic conditions, the heat load in winter and the cooling load in summer are unbalanced. In the long-term operation of the ground-source heat pump (GSHP), the soil heat imbalance phenomenon has still not been successfully solved. Therefore, this study took the GSHP of a public building in the cold area of northern China as the research object. Based on the unit performance data of the system over 8 years and the measured data of the soil temperature field, the long-term operation efficiency of the GSHP in the cold region and the variation law of the soil temperature field were explored. In order to further study the problem of soil heat imbalance, the effect of heat exchange hole groups at different intervals on the underground soil thermal environment after 30 years of operation in the system was simulated, and the optimization scheme of heat exchange hole spacing was proposed. The research results support the improvement and optimization of GSHP design and construction, and have important practical significance for the popularization of GSHPs in cold regions.

Keywords

• geothermal energy
• ground-source heat pump
• heat imbalance
• performance
• borehole spacing