Numerical Analysis of the Thermal Performance of Energy Pile with U-Tube

Abstract

Energy pile is a new type of underground heat exchanger for ground source heat pump system. Compared with the traditional borehole heat exchangers, because the heat exchangers are installed inside the concrete piles, energy pile does not need a separate borehole drilling, the initial cost can be reduced greatly. In this paper, the numerical model of the energy pile was built, and the effects of tube configuration, pile depth and operation mode on the thermal performance of the energy pile was researched using the model. The model and the results are helpful to design and analyze such kind of ground source heat pump system with energy pile.