Phase change materials effect on the thermal radius and energy storage capacity of energy piles: Experimental and numerical study

Geothermal energy is a renewable energy source whose use has been increased dramatically. It is primarily harvested by employing ground source heat pump (GSHP) technology due to its high coefficient of performance (COP) and low greenhouse gas emissions. This study aims to present a potential solutio...

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Main Authors: M.M. Mousa, A.M. Bayomy, M.Z. Saghir
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Elsevier 2021-05-01
Series:International Journal of Thermofluids
Subjects:
Online Access:http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S266620272100032X
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spelling doaj-b580e53efc3e4ca39e8cfe8cca0b505c2021-05-24T04:32:13ZengElsevierInternational Journal of Thermofluids2666-20272021-05-0110100094Phase change materials effect on the thermal radius and energy storage capacity of energy piles: Experimental and numerical studyM.M. Mousa0A.M. Bayomy1M.Z. Saghir2Corresponding author.; Department of Mechanical and Industrial Engineering, Ryerson University, 350 Victoria St, Toronto, CanadaDepartment of Mechanical and Industrial Engineering, Ryerson University, 350 Victoria St, Toronto, CanadaDepartment of Mechanical and Industrial Engineering, Ryerson University, 350 Victoria St, Toronto, CanadaGeothermal energy is a renewable energy source whose use has been increased dramatically. It is primarily harvested by employing ground source heat pump (GSHP) technology due to its high coefficient of performance (COP) and low greenhouse gas emissions. This study aims to present a potential solution to the challenges preventing a higher adoption rate for ground source heat pump technology using building foundation piles as a ground heat exchanger (GHE) and implementing phase change materials (PCM) containers into the concrete shell. The study was conducted experimentally using two lab-scaled foundation piles (with and without PCM), with 3 layers of insulation. CFD numerical model was developed and validated against the experimental data. The modified model, by replacing the three insulations layers with a sand layer, was used to study the effect of different operating conditions on the heat storage capacity. Results revealed that implementing the PCM containers increased the energy storage from 16.4 to 48.2 kJ/kg (in the case of PCM 2), while the temperature distribution was always lower during the charging, due to the smaller thermal radius of the piles. By increasing the flow rate from the laminar regions to the turbulent regions, the storage capacity was increased by 10%. the study recommended using a turbulent flow inside the GHE and selecting the PCM melting temperature according to the time at which the peak load occurs.http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S266620272100032XEnergy pilesPhase change materialsThermal radiusGround source heat pumpBoreholeMelting temperature
collection DOAJ
language English
format Article
sources DOAJ
author M.M. Mousa
A.M. Bayomy
M.Z. Saghir
spellingShingle M.M. Mousa
A.M. Bayomy
M.Z. Saghir
Phase change materials effect on the thermal radius and energy storage capacity of energy piles: Experimental and numerical study
International Journal of Thermofluids
Energy piles
Phase change materials
Thermal radius
Ground source heat pump
Borehole
Melting temperature
author_facet M.M. Mousa
A.M. Bayomy
M.Z. Saghir
author_sort M.M. Mousa
title Phase change materials effect on the thermal radius and energy storage capacity of energy piles: Experimental and numerical study
title_short Phase change materials effect on the thermal radius and energy storage capacity of energy piles: Experimental and numerical study
title_full Phase change materials effect on the thermal radius and energy storage capacity of energy piles: Experimental and numerical study
title_fullStr Phase change materials effect on the thermal radius and energy storage capacity of energy piles: Experimental and numerical study
title_full_unstemmed Phase change materials effect on the thermal radius and energy storage capacity of energy piles: Experimental and numerical study
title_sort phase change materials effect on the thermal radius and energy storage capacity of energy piles: experimental and numerical study
publisher Elsevier
series International Journal of Thermofluids
issn 2666-2027
publishDate 2021-05-01
description Geothermal energy is a renewable energy source whose use has been increased dramatically. It is primarily harvested by employing ground source heat pump (GSHP) technology due to its high coefficient of performance (COP) and low greenhouse gas emissions. This study aims to present a potential solution to the challenges preventing a higher adoption rate for ground source heat pump technology using building foundation piles as a ground heat exchanger (GHE) and implementing phase change materials (PCM) containers into the concrete shell. The study was conducted experimentally using two lab-scaled foundation piles (with and without PCM), with 3 layers of insulation. CFD numerical model was developed and validated against the experimental data. The modified model, by replacing the three insulations layers with a sand layer, was used to study the effect of different operating conditions on the heat storage capacity. Results revealed that implementing the PCM containers increased the energy storage from 16.4 to 48.2 kJ/kg (in the case of PCM 2), while the temperature distribution was always lower during the charging, due to the smaller thermal radius of the piles. By increasing the flow rate from the laminar regions to the turbulent regions, the storage capacity was increased by 10%. the study recommended using a turbulent flow inside the GHE and selecting the PCM melting temperature according to the time at which the peak load occurs.
topic Energy piles
Phase change materials
Thermal radius
Ground source heat pump
Borehole
Melting temperature
url http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S266620272100032X
work_keys_str_mv AT mmmousa phasechangematerialseffectonthethermalradiusandenergystoragecapacityofenergypilesexperimentalandnumericalstudy
AT ambayomy phasechangematerialseffectonthethermalradiusandenergystoragecapacityofenergypilesexperimentalandnumericalstudy
AT mzsaghir phasechangematerialseffectonthethermalradiusandenergystoragecapacityofenergypilesexperimentalandnumericalstudy
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