Geothermal
usage of laminar ground structures:
Energy
potential of thermo-active seal panels
A
joint research project of Geophysica and the
Institute for Geotechnical Engineering at RWTH
Aachen University (GiB) focuses on the
optimization of the geothermal usage of
thermo-active seal panels. Since several years,
the GiB is developing and testing innovative
thermo-active seal panels under laboratory
conditions using large-scale test sets. The
development of the elements was carried out in
cooperation with NAUE GmbH & Co. KG. The tests
revealed promising values of heat transfer
capacity and heat transmission resistance. The
panels are preferably suitable for application in
areas of streaming groundwater, since buildings
need sealings in any case.
In
order to dimension such a system efficiently, the
knowledge of the influence of groundwater flow on
extractable thermal power in quantitative terms is
crucial. Hitherto,
effects of groundwater flow are largely neglected.
Existing studies solely refer to heat pipes (double-U,
Coaxial) and energy piles, since quantitative
analysis of heat transfer is more complex for
planar panels than it is for axially symmetrical
systems.
Geophysica’s
task in the project was to develop a software
module which will allows to calculate the heat
transfer of thermo-active panels. The module is
implemented within the SHEMAT-Suite software. In
parallel, the GiB performs laboratory studies of
heat extraction capacity of seal panels under
different conditions. The laboratory results are
used to test and calibrate the software.
The
newly developed software now allows to
quantitatively integrate planar thermo-active
panels during the planning stages of indoor
climatisation.
Sheme
of energy retrieval of thermo-active seal panels. (RWTH
Aachen)
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