skip to main content
OSTI.GOV title logo U.S. Department of Energy
Office of Scientific and Technical Information

Title: Feasibility of an environmentally-clean, energy-saving ground-water siphon for supplying heat pumps

Abstract

Ground-water gradients as high as 120 ft/mile exist at the edge of a buried glacial sluiceway in northwestern Indiana. A theoretical feasibility study showed that if an upgradient extraction well were connected by siphon pipelines of different diameters to a reinjection well one mile downgradient, with a 10,000 square-foot commercial building using a ground-water heat-pump system between them, then the following could be expected: (1) for a siphon diameters of four and six inches, the siphon/heat pump system would posses the lowest present worth of total life-cycle costs of all other conventional heating and cooling systems and would be the least expensive system to operate each year; (2) the increased capital expenditure of installing a siphon-heat pump system vs. gas, oil, or electric systems would be recovered during the 20-year life-cycle of the system for both siphon diameters. Aquifer systems with high hydraulic gradients in many parts of the world could be utilized thusly to provide cheap and environmentally-clean supplementary energy sources, and therefore, reduce dependence on fossil-fuel supplies.

Authors:
 [1];  [2]
  1. Ground-Water Tech., Inc., Carmel, IN (United States)
  2. Purdue Univ., West Lafayette, IN (United States). Dept. of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences
Publication Date:
OSTI Identifier:
6088492
Report Number(s):
CONF-921058-
Journal ID: ISSN 0016-7592; CODEN: GAAPBC
Resource Type:
Conference
Journal Name:
Geological Society of America, Abstracts with Programs; (United States)
Additional Journal Information:
Journal Volume: 24:7; Conference: 1992 annual meeting of the Geological Society of America (GSA), Cincinnati, OH (United States), 26-29 Oct 1992; Journal ID: ISSN 0016-7592
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English
Subject:
32 ENERGY CONSERVATION, CONSUMPTION, AND UTILIZATION; AQUIFERS; RESOURCE DEVELOPMENT; COMMERCIAL BUILDINGS; GROUND SOURCE HEAT PUMPS; DESIGN; LIFE-CYCLE COST; INDIANA; DIMENSIONS; FEASIBILITY STUDIES; FLOW RATE; GROUND WATER; PIPES; WATER WELLS; BUILDINGS; COST; DEVELOPED COUNTRIES; HEAT PUMPS; HYDROGEN COMPOUNDS; NORTH AMERICA; OXYGEN COMPOUNDS; USA; WATER; WELLS; 320106* - Energy Conservation, Consumption, & Utilization- Building Equipment- (1987-)

Citation Formats

Clabaugh, B D, and Leap, D I. Feasibility of an environmentally-clean, energy-saving ground-water siphon for supplying heat pumps. United States: N. p., 1992. Web.
Clabaugh, B D, & Leap, D I. Feasibility of an environmentally-clean, energy-saving ground-water siphon for supplying heat pumps. United States.
Clabaugh, B D, and Leap, D I. 1992. "Feasibility of an environmentally-clean, energy-saving ground-water siphon for supplying heat pumps". United States.
@article{osti_6088492,
title = {Feasibility of an environmentally-clean, energy-saving ground-water siphon for supplying heat pumps},
author = {Clabaugh, B D and Leap, D I},
abstractNote = {Ground-water gradients as high as 120 ft/mile exist at the edge of a buried glacial sluiceway in northwestern Indiana. A theoretical feasibility study showed that if an upgradient extraction well were connected by siphon pipelines of different diameters to a reinjection well one mile downgradient, with a 10,000 square-foot commercial building using a ground-water heat-pump system between them, then the following could be expected: (1) for a siphon diameters of four and six inches, the siphon/heat pump system would posses the lowest present worth of total life-cycle costs of all other conventional heating and cooling systems and would be the least expensive system to operate each year; (2) the increased capital expenditure of installing a siphon-heat pump system vs. gas, oil, or electric systems would be recovered during the 20-year life-cycle of the system for both siphon diameters. Aquifer systems with high hydraulic gradients in many parts of the world could be utilized thusly to provide cheap and environmentally-clean supplementary energy sources, and therefore, reduce dependence on fossil-fuel supplies.},
doi = {},
url = {https://www.osti.gov/biblio/6088492}, journal = {Geological Society of America, Abstracts with Programs; (United States)},
issn = {0016-7592},
number = ,
volume = 24:7,
place = {United States},
year = {Wed Jan 01 00:00:00 EST 1992},
month = {Wed Jan 01 00:00:00 EST 1992}
}

Conference:
Other availability
Please see Document Availability for additional information on obtaining the full-text document. Library patrons may search WorldCat to identify libraries that hold this conference proceeding.

Save / Share: