Use of ground coupled tanks in solar assisted heat pump systems. I. Comparison of experimental and computer model results
A research program at Brookhaven National Laboratory (BNL) has studied ground coupling, i.e. the use of the earth as a heat source/sink or storage element, for solar assisted heat pump systems. As part of this research program, four buried tank experiments were operated between December, 1978 and March 1981 in order to determine the feasibility of ground coupled tanks in these systems. Heat was added to or removed from the tanks according to a weekly schedule derived from computer simulations of solar heat pump systems in the local (New York) climate. Each tank was operated according to a different control strategy. Experimental results from these tank experiments for this period are presented and these results are compared to those generated by a computer model, GROCS, developed at BNL. The model is found to be valid, for the most part, using undisturbed soil thermal properties which provide the best fit to the data most of the time. Its results are very sensitive to soil thermal conductivity during periods of large heat addition to the tanks. A ground coupled tank is found to be desirable in series solar assisted heat pump systems. However, no important carry-over of summer-collected heat to winter was observed.
- Research Organization:
- Brookhaven National Lab., Upton, NY (USA)
- DOE Contract Number:
- AC02-76CH00016
- OSTI ID:
- 5405902
- Report Number(s):
- BNL-30913; CONF-820410-9; ON: DE82009928
- Resource Relation:
- Conference: ASME solar energy conference, Albuquerque, NM, USA, 26 Apr 1982; Other Information: Portions of document are illegible
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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SOLAR-ASSISTED HEAT PUMPS
SENSIBLE HEAT STORAGE
CLIMATES
GROUND SOURCE HEAT PUMPS
HEAT SINKS
NEW YORK
SOILS
TANKS
THERMAL CONDUCTIVITY
AIR CONDITIONERS
CONTAINERS
ENERGY STORAGE
ENERGY SYSTEMS
EQUIPMENT
FEDERAL REGION II
HEAT PUMPS
HEAT STORAGE
HEATING SYSTEMS
NORTH AMERICA
PHYSICAL PROPERTIES
SINKS
SOLAR AIR CONDITIONERS
SOLAR COOLING SYSTEMS
SOLAR EQUIPMENT
SOLAR HEATING SYSTEMS
STORAGE
THERMODYNAMIC PROPERTIES
USA
140901* - Solar Thermal Utilization- Space Heating & Cooling
142000 - Solar Energy- Heat Storage- (1980-)