Borehole heat exchanger: modeling validation and system parameters evaluation

Abstract

The development and validation of a numerical model for the simulation of energy flows and temperature changes in a U-tube borehole heat exchanger is presented. The FlexPDE software package is employed to solve the time-dependent convection-diffusion equation that models the resulting boundary value problem. The model is validated with experimental data and is used to study how various parameters like the U-tube diameter, the ground thermal conductivity and specific heat, affect the exchanger temperature.