Commercial Program Development for a Ground Loop Geothermal System: G-Functions, Commercial Codes and 3D Grid, Boundary and Property Extension

Bibliographic Details
Main Author: Hughes, Kyle L.
Language:English
Published: Wright State University / OhioLINK 2011
Subjects:
Online Access:http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=wright1324332345
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spelling ndltd-OhioLink-oai-etd.ohiolink.edu-wright13243323452021-08-03T06:17:26Z Commercial Program Development for a Ground Loop Geothermal System: G-Functions, Commercial Codes and 3D Grid, Boundary and Property Extension Hughes, Kyle L. Mechanical Engineering geothermal system ground loop heat exchangers The rise in fossil fuel consumption and green house gas emissions has driven the need for alternative energy and energy efficiency. At the same time, ground loop heat exchangers (GLHE) have proven capable of producing large reductions in energy use while meeting peak demands. However, the initial cost of GLHEs sometimes makes this alternative energy source unattractive to the costumer. GLHE installers use commercial programs to determine the length of pipe needed for the system, which is a large fraction of the initial cost. These commercial programs use approximate methods to determine the length of pipe mainly due to their heat transfer analysis technique, and as a result, sometimes oversize the systems. A more accurate GLHE sizing program can simulate the system correctly, thus, reducing the length of pipe needed and initial cost of the system. We feel a more accurate GLHE sizing program is needed.As part of a DOE funded project Wright State University has been developing a ground loop geothermal computer modeling tool, GEO2D, that uses a detailed heat transfer model based on the governing differential energy equation. This tool is meant to be more physically detailed and accurate than current commercial ground loop geothermal computer codes. The specific work of this Master's thesis first includes a detailed literature search of GLHE sizing techniques. Secondly, this work contains a detailed description of commercial GLHE sizing codes currently available and compares some results to GEO2D. Additionally, this work has developed a g-function program; a GLHE sizing technique used by many commercial programs, and compared results to GEO2D. Next, this work has developed subroutines to develop a three-dimensional grid system for a horizontal and vertical GLHE. Lasty this work has developed computer code for the boundary conditions and material property allocation used in GEO3D. 2011-12-21 English text Wright State University / OhioLINK http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=wright1324332345 http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=wright1324332345 unrestricted This thesis or dissertation is protected by copyright: all rights reserved. It may not be copied or redistributed beyond the terms of applicable copyright laws.
collection NDLTD
language English
sources NDLTD
topic Mechanical Engineering
geothermal system
ground loop heat exchangers
spellingShingle Mechanical Engineering
geothermal system
ground loop heat exchangers
Hughes, Kyle L.
Commercial Program Development for a Ground Loop Geothermal System: G-Functions, Commercial Codes and 3D Grid, Boundary and Property Extension
author Hughes, Kyle L.
author_facet Hughes, Kyle L.
author_sort Hughes, Kyle L.
title Commercial Program Development for a Ground Loop Geothermal System: G-Functions, Commercial Codes and 3D Grid, Boundary and Property Extension
title_short Commercial Program Development for a Ground Loop Geothermal System: G-Functions, Commercial Codes and 3D Grid, Boundary and Property Extension
title_full Commercial Program Development for a Ground Loop Geothermal System: G-Functions, Commercial Codes and 3D Grid, Boundary and Property Extension
title_fullStr Commercial Program Development for a Ground Loop Geothermal System: G-Functions, Commercial Codes and 3D Grid, Boundary and Property Extension
title_full_unstemmed Commercial Program Development for a Ground Loop Geothermal System: G-Functions, Commercial Codes and 3D Grid, Boundary and Property Extension
title_sort commercial program development for a ground loop geothermal system: g-functions, commercial codes and 3d grid, boundary and property extension
publisher Wright State University / OhioLINK
publishDate 2011
url http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=wright1324332345
work_keys_str_mv AT hugheskylel commercialprogramdevelopmentforagroundloopgeothermalsystemgfunctionscommercialcodesand3dgridboundaryandpropertyextension
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