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A practical heat transfer model for geothermal

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 Energy and Buildings 66 (2013) 470479

Contents lists available at ScienceDirect

Energy and Buildings

journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/enbuild

A practical heat transfer model for geothermal piles

Omid Ghasemi-Fare 1 , Prasenjit Basu
Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, The Pennsylvania State University, United States

a r t i c l e i n f o a b s t r a c t

Article history: Idealized heat source models, which assume constant heat ux along the entire length of heat sources,
Received 4 January 2013 cannot be used for accurate quantication of ground temperature response during thermal operation
Received in revised form 11 May 2013 of geothermal piles. This paper presents an annular cylinder heat source model that can realistically
Accepted 17 July 2013
simulate heat transport by the uid circulating through the tubes embedded in heat exchanger piles.
A nite difference code is developed for simultaneous solution of partial differential equations, which
describe both transient and steady-state heat transfer from a geothermal pile to the surrounding soil.
Results show that the use of a constant heat ux along the entire length of a heat exchanger pile may
signicantly misinterpret thermal response over time after the start of heat exchange operation. The
impact of different model parameters on the performance of a geothermal pile is investigated through
a sensitivity study. Based on the results from sensitivity study, initial temperature difference between
ground and circulation uid, thermal conductivity of soil, and radius of circulation tube are identied to
be the most important parameters that affect thermal efciency of a geothermal pile.
2013 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

1. Introduction
Seasonal variation of ground temperature is insignicant below
a shallow depth (usually couple of meters) from the ground sur-
face and thus, deep foundations are good candidates for harvesting
geothermal energy through heat exchange operation. Heat can be
transported by circulating heat carrier uid through a closed loop
embedded within concrete piles. Such piles are commonly known
as geothermal piles, heat exchanger piles or energy piles. The great
potential of environmental, social and economic benets of utiliz-
ing geothermal energy has made the use of geothermal piles quite
popular in different parts of the world.
The use of ground-source heat pump (GSHP) systems results in
a higher coefcient of performance (COP) compared with the use of
air-source heat pump (ASHP) systems because the temperature of
the ground (used as a heat source or sink) is relatively stable com-
pared with air temperature. Several research articles indicate that
the use of GSHP and ground-water heat pump (GWHP) can result
in a cost savings of 1856% and in a reduction in carbon dioxide
emission by 4580% as compared to the use of ASHP and other
conventional sources of energy (e.g., coal, petroleum and natural
gas) in residential and commercial buildings [110]. In fact, the use
of geothermal piles as heat exchangers in GSHP systems further
Corresponding author. Tel.: +1 814 863 4010; fax: +1 814 865 9668.
E-mail addresses: omid@psu.edu (O. Ghasemi-Fare),
pbasu@engr.psu.edu (P. Basu).
1
Tel.: +1 814 865 9675; fax: +1 814 8659668.
reduces the initial cost of GSHP system installation [1114]. There-
fore, for cost-efcient design of GSHP systems with heat exchanger
piles, accurate quantication of heat transfer through these piles
should be an integral part of the design. Moreover, it is impor-
tant to identify and characterize different design, operational and
site-specic variables (e.g., radii of pile and circulation tube, uid
circulation rate, and thermal conductivity of soil and pile mate-
rial) that may signicantly affect heat transfer through geothermal
piles.
This paper presents an annular cylinder heat transfer model
that realistically simulates heat exchange between a geothermal
pile and surrounding soil. A nite difference code is developed for
solving a system of partial differential equations which describe
heat ow through heat carrier uid and heat conduction in soil and
concrete. The proposed model can capture the effects of different
design, operational and site-specic variables on time-dependent
variation of ground temperature. A sensitivity study is performed to
identify key parameters that may signicantly affect heat transfer
efciency of geothermal piles.
2. Idealized heat source models
Researchers from petroleum engineering analyzed heat trans-
fer through geothermal boreholes as early as in 1947. Since then,
several researchers have developed and modied idealized heat
transfer models for predicting heat exchange between geothermal
heat exchangers and ground. Different idealized heat source mod-
els were analyzed over the last two decades to estimate variation
of ground temperature due to the presence of a nite or innite

0378-7788/$ see front matter 2013 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.enbuild.2013.07.048
 O. Ghasemi-Fare, P. Basu / Energy and Buildings 66 (2013) 470479 471

solid cylinder sources using Greens function. Researchers have also

Nomenclature suggested the use of spiral heat source model for heat exchanger
elements with spiral heat sources [24,25]. Table 1 summarizes
A Area (m2 ) available solutions for the idealized heat source models.
Cp Specic heat (J kg1 C1 ) Note that previous theoretical studies used idealized heat source
E Energy output (W) models to quantify temperature distribution in the surrounding
Fo Fourier number medium. Circulation of the heat transporting uid within a geother-
i, j Node index mal heat exchanger element (such as borehole heat exchanger or
k Thermal conductivity (W m1 C1 ) geothermal pile) was not modeled in those studies; a constant
Lb Length of an idealized heat source (m) value of either temperature or heat ux along the entire length of a
L Pile length (m) geothermal heat exchanger was assumed, which is far from being
m Mass ow rate (kg s1 ) practical [26]. Therefore, the effect of uid circulation rate on heat
q Heat ow rate (W) transfer efciency of a geothermal pile cannot be quantied using
ql Heat ux per unit length (W/m) solutions obtained from idealized heat source models available in
q Heat ux (W m2 ) literature. Such solutions cannot also predict the time-dependent
r Radial coordinate (m) evolution of heat ux and thus, would lead to an inaccurate esti-
rb Radius of idealized heat source (m) mation of temperature distribution in soil surrounding geothermal
rt Radius of circulation tube (m) piles.
rp Pile radius (m)
Rb Normalized radius
t Time (s) 3. Annular cylinder heat source model with heat carrier
T Temperature ( C) uid
Tf Fluid temperature ( C)
Tg Ground temperature ( C) 3.1. Model development
Tinlet Temperature at circulation tube inlet ( C)
Toutlet Temperature at circulation tube outlet ( C) Heat transfer through a concrete geothermal pile with an
v Circulation velocity of heat carrier uid (m s1 ) embedded U-shaped circulation tube is modeled in this study. Half
z Depth (m) of the pile is modeled exploiting the approximately axisymmetric
heat ow condition in the medium surrounding the pile (Fig. 1a).
Greek symbols Note that the location and arrangement of the circulation tubes
Thermal diffusivity (m2 /s) within a geothermal pile does not strictly satisfy the condition of
 Initial temperature difference between uid inlet an axisymmetric geometry. However, the diameter of the circula-
point and ground ( C) tion tube (heat source) is two orders of magnitude smaller than
 Mass density (kg m3 ) the expected thermal inuence zone surrounding the pile. There-
fore, the assumption of axisymmetric heat conduction in the media
Subscripts (i.e., concrete and soil) surrounding the heat source is not far from
c Concrete reality. Interaction between two vertical limbs of the U-tube is not
f Fluid considered in this study. The wall thickness of circulation tube is
p Pile assumed to be zero; thus, possible heat loss within the tube wall is
s Soil neglected. This is a reasonable assumption because the thickness
t Circulation tube of circulation tubes used in practice is often in the order of couple
of millimeters only. Heat transfer from the heat carrier uid to the
surrounding media is analyzed by coupling heat conduction and
heat source within the ground. Available heat source models can heat balance equations. Time-dependent evolution of temperature
broadly be divided into three main categories: (i) innite and nite T (r, z, t) due to heat conduction within an axisymmetric domain
line sources, (ii) hollow cylinder source and (iii) one- and two- can be expressed as:
dimensional solid cylinder sources. Simplied assumptions were
made in each of these models in order for the analytical solutions 1 T 2 T 2 T 1 T
= + 2 + (1a)
to be possible. t z 2 r r r
Vertical heat exchanger boreholes were rst modeled as innite
k
line and innite hollow cylinder heat sources with constant heat = (1b)
Cp
ux along the length. Carslaw and Jaeger [15] and Ingersoll et al.
[16] provided analytical solutions for heat transfer through innite
where , k,  and Cp are, respectively, thermal diffusivity, thermal
hollow cylinder and innite line sources, respectively. Analytical
conductivity, mass density and specic heat capacity of the heat
solutions for heat conduction in soil surrounding a nite line heat
conduction medium and t is time. Radial distance r and depth z are
source with constant heat ux were proposed by Eskilson [17]
measured from the origin O (Fig. 1b).
for steady state condition and by Zeng et al. [18] and Lamarche
Eq. (1) alone cannot describe heat transfer through a geothermal
and Beauchamp [19] for transient condition. Cui et al. [20] and
pile because it does not capture heat ow within the circula-
Lamarche [21] provided analytical solutions for transient ground
tion tube. Considering that average temperature of an element A
temperature response caused by a single inclined line source.
(Fig. 1a) within the circulation tube increases by an amount dT over
Lamarche and Beauchamp [22] studied ground temperature
time dt and assuming an average heat ow rate q (from element A
distribution around a heat exchanger borehole using innite solid
to concrete pile) over the length dz, the heat balance equation for
cylinder heat source model with two different boundary condi-
element A can be written as:
tions: (i) constant heat ux and (ii) constant mean temperature for
the heat carrier uid (or grout). Man et al. [23] developed analytical
mCpf dtdT e = qdt + f rt2 dzCpf dT (2)
solutions for heat conduction through one- and two-dimensional
472 O. Ghasemi-Fare, P. Basu / Energy and Buildings 66 (2013) 470479

Table 1
Available solutions for idealized heat source models.

Idealized heat source models Analytical solution

q 2
Innite line (Ingersoll T (r, t) = 4k
l
Ei( r
4t
)
et al. [16])

 
L r 2 +(zz  )2 r 2 +(z+z  )2

 2 t  2 t
ql erfc( ) erfc( )
Finite line (Zeng et al. T (r, z, t) = 4k dz 
[18]) r 2 +(zz  )2 r 2 +(z+z  )2
0


Innite hollow cylinder T (r, t) =
ql
2 kr0
(eu2 t 1) J0 (ur)Y1 (ur0 )Y0 (ur)J1 (ur
0 ) du
u2 J 2 (ur0 )+Y 2 (ur0 )
(Carslaw and Jaeger 1 1

[15]) 0

  
q r 2 +r 2 2rr0 cos
1
Innite solid cylinder T (r, t) = 4k
l

Ei 0
4t
d
(Man et al. [23])
0

Finite solid cylinder T (r, z, t) =

t L
    
(Man et al. [23])
 r 2 +r 2 +(z  z )
2
r 2 +r 2 (z  +z )
2
q
clp  1
3 I0 rr0
2(tt  )
exp 0
4(tt  )
exp 0
4(tt  )
dz  dt 
8 (tt  )
0 0

2n    
ql b 
Spiral line model (Li T (r, , z, t) = 1
d
erfc d 1
d
erfc d d
4 x y 2 z t 2 z t
and Lai [25])
k 0
2 2 2
d= z
(r cos r0 cos ) + kkz (r sin r0 sin ) + (z b)
kx y
  2
2 2
d = kz
kx
(r cos r0 cos ) + kz
ky
(r sin r0 sin ) + z + b ;b = L
2n

Cp , specic heat; k, thermal conductivity; L, length of the heat source; r0 , cylinder radius; r, z, and , Cylindrical coordinate system; , integration parameter; t, time; T,
temperature; , thermal diffusivity; , mass density; J0 , Y0 , and I0 , Bessels functions; x, y, and z, Cartesian coordinate system
x  
eu 2
 
Ei (x) = u
du; erfc (x) = 2

eu du; I0 (x) = 1

exp xcos d

x 0

where dTe is the temperature difference (over the length dz) the heat balance equation expressed through Eq. (2) can be written
between top and bottom of element A, m and Cpf are, respec- as:
tively, mass ow rate and specic heat capacity of heat carrier
uid circulating through the tube, and rt is radius of the circulation  
T
tube. Radial variation of uid temperature at a particular depth is f vrt2 Cpf dtdT = e
f rt2 Cpf dzdT 2kc rt dzdt (5)
r
neglected in Eq. (2). Heat ow rate q can be related to heat ux q
as:
where f is mass density of circulation uid and v is uid circula-
q = qdA (3) tion velocity. Rearrangement of Eq. (5) yields the partial differential
equation (PDE) of heat transport by the heat carrier uid owing
through circulation tubes embedded in a geothermal pile.
where dA (=2rt dz) is the surface area available for heat transfer
from element A to the concrete pile. Heat ux q is further dened
as: T T 2kc T
=v + (6)
t z f Cpf rt r
T
q(z, t) = kc (4)
r Simultaneous solution of Eqs. (1) and (6) under different bound-
ary and initial conditions will provide time-dependent evolution of
where kc is thermal conductivity of concrete. Using the denition of temperature within a geothermal pile and that in the soil surround-
mass transfer (ow) rate m and replacing Eqs. (3) and (4) in Eq. (2), ing the pile.
 O. Ghasemi-Fare, P. Basu / Energy and Buildings 66 (2013) 470479 473

Fig. 1. Annular cylinder heat source model proposed in this study (a) isometric and plan view and (b) nite difference grid and boundary conditions.

3.2. Finite difference formulation for the proposed model T = Tinitial for t = 0; 0 r R and 0 z Z (11)

A nite difference (FD) code is developed to obtain simulta- In addition to the boundary and initial conditions specied by
neous solution from Eqs. (1) and (6). The developed FD code uses an Eqs. (10) and (11), a heat ow continuity condition is used at the
explicit solution scheme. A schematic FD grid and boundary con- pile-soil interface (i.e., at r = rp ).
ditions used for the analyses presented in this paper are shown in
Fig. 1(b). Using explicit FD denitions, the following expressions      
are obtained, respectively, for Eqs. (1) and (6): T t+1 T t ri2 ri1
2 2 r2  C
c Cpc + ri+1 s ps
 i

 t t + Tt  t t
t 2 r2
ri+1
Ti1,j 2Ti,j 1 (Ti+1,j Ti,j ) i1
t+1
Ti,j t
Ti,j = t
i+1,j
+  Tt   
ri ri+1 ri ri+1
ks ri+1 i+2
T t
i+1
kc ri1
T t T t
i i1 2 2

  1 ri+2 ri+1 ri+2 ri+1  ri+1 ri 
t
Ti,j1 t
2Ti,j t
+ Ti,j+1 =
ri
(ri+1 ri1 )
+ 2 2
ks
+ (7) ri+1 ri1
zi zi+1
 t t + Tt  2 2 
Ti,j1 2Ti,j r ri1
t+1 t t  t t
 2kc t
i,j+1
+ i  kc
Ti,j Ti,j =v Ti,j1 Ti,j + (T t t
Ti,j ) (8) zi zi+1 2 2
ri+1 ri1
zj f Cpf ri ri i+1,j
 t t + Tt 
Stability of FD solutions presented in this paper is ensured Ti,j1 2Ti,j i,j+1
by selecting a time step t that is small enough to satisfy the (12)
zi zi+1
CourantFriedrichsLewy condition [27]. For simultaneous solu-
tion of Eqs. (7) and (8), the time-step stability criterion is expressed
as: The continuity condition expressed through Eq. (12) is required
1
to obtain realistic solution for heat transfer from a heat exchanger

pile to the surrounding soil because the values of thermal diffusivity

2 2 2
2
+ 2
+ for concrete and soil are likely to be different for practical purposes.
r z rt r
t min 1 (9) Most of the available idealized heat transfer models, except the



v 2kc ones developed by Hellstrom [28] and Lamarche and Beauchamp
+ [19], assume a single homogeneous medium surrounding a heat
z f Cpf rt r
source. Therefore, such idealized models cannot accurately quan-
The boundary conditions shown in Fig. 1(b) and the initial con- tify the variation of temperature in two different media (concrete
dition used in the analyses are: and soil) surrounding a heat source. Moreover, none of the idealized
models can capture variations of heat ux and uid temperature
T = Tinitial for r = R, z0; r2rt , z = 0 and r0, z = Z (10a)
along the length of a circulation tube; hence, cannot quantify the
T effects of these variations on heat transfer efciency of geothermal
= 0 for r = 0, z0 (10b)
r piles.
474 O. Ghasemi-Fare, P. Basu / Energy and Buildings 66 (2013) 470479

78 32

Temperature T (C) adjacent to the heat source

Temperature T (C) adjacent to the heat source

30
68

k=1.5 W/mC 28
58 k=2.3 W/mC
Tinitial=18 C Tinitial=18 C
rb=0.025 m rb=0.3 m
Lb=5 m 26
Lb/rb=100
48 z=2.5 m
Rb=rb/Lb= 0.005
24

38
22
Analytical (steady satate) solution for Analytical (transient) solution for
finite line source [18] infinite hollow cylinder source [15]
28
Finite difference solution 20 Finite difference solution

18 18
0 4000 8000 12000 0 4 8 12
Normalized time Fo = t/rb 2 Normalized time Fo = t/rb2
(a) (b)
Fig. 2. Comparison between analytical solutions and results obtained using the developed nite difference code (with appropriate modications) for (a) nite line heat
source (steady-state solution) and (b) innite hollow cylinder heat source (transient solution).

3.3. Validation of the developed nite difference code
The FD code is developed for solving PDEs associated with the
proposed annular cylinder heat source model, but with certain
adjustments in boundary and initial conditions, this code can also
produce solutions for idealized heat source models available in lit-
erature. We verify the FD code by comparing available analytical
solutions for nite line and innite hollow cylinder heat sources
with the respective solutions obtained using the developed code.
Note that both nite line and innite hollow cylinder heat source
models use constant heat ux (an input parameter for these mod-
els) along the entire length of the heat source. Additionally, both
of these models consider a single value of thermal conductivity k
for the homogeneous medium around the heat source. Hence, the
following modications are required in order for the developed FD
code to capture the constant-heat-ux condition at r = 2rt :
" summer in most part of the world, and thus, 160rt (11rp ) would
T "" ql
= (13)
r " 2rt k
r=2rt
"
2 T "" (T/r)i+1 (T/r)r=2rt
= heat exchanger piles [29,30]. Even after 60 days of heat exchange
r 2 "
r=2rt
[(Ti+1,j Ti,j )/ri+1 ] + (ql /2rt k)
= (14)
where ql is the constant heat ux per unit length of the heat
exchanger. Fig. 2 shows that the developed FD code can success-
fully predict analytical heat transfer solutions for nite line source
(ql = 100 W/m, rb = 0.025 m, Lb = 5 m and Rb = rb /Lb = 0.005; rb and
Lb are, respectively, radius and length of the idealized heat source)
and innite hollow cylinder source (ql = 100 W/m, rb = 0.3 m and
Lb /rb = 100).
4. Heat transfer analyses
4.1. Analysis result
Z = 35 m is considered around the pile. Thermal properties for con-
crete and soil, as assumed for the analyses, are given in Table 2;
specic heat of the heat carrier uid Cpf is assumed to be equal to
4190 J kg1 C1 . Few additional analyses are performed to identify
the effects of some important input variables on thermal efciency
of heat exchanger piles and on time-dependent evolution of ground
temperature Tg .
Fig. 3(a) shows that the thermal inuence zone around the
heat exchanger pile extends approximately up to a radius of 160rt
(=3.2 m 11rp ) after 60 days of heat rejection from the pile to the
ground (a thermal loading condition that simulates operation of a
geothermal pile during summer). Note that the thermal inuence
zone continuously grows with time after heat rejection starts. How-
ever, two months of continuous heat rejection from a geothermal
pile to the ground (as simulated in this analysis) can be considered
as an extreme scenario for thermal operation of such a pile during
practically be an upper bound of thermal inuence zone around
a heat exchanger pile. Except in the vicinity of pile head and base,
radial heat transfer is observed for the entire length of the pile. Such
radial heat transfer is also observed in previous numerical studies of
ri+1
operation, change in ground temperature is negligible (less than
1 C) beyond a depth of 6rp below the pile base (Fig. 3).
Thermal conductivity of soil ks (and consequently, thermal dif-
ri+1
fusivity s ) depends on various factors such as dry density, water
content, and soil texture. For coarse- and ne-grained soils, the
range of ks varies, respectively, from 0.9 to 4.2 W/mC and from 0.3
to 2.1 W/mC [8]. The value of ks reduces with decrease in soil water
content; ks is minimum for dry soil (usually 0.20.4 W/mC; [31]).
Soil near the ground surface is often not fully saturated and a low
value of ks (and thus s ) is expected within this desiccated zone.
Heat transfer performance of a geothermal pile is investigated in
the presence of a 5 m desiccated zone of soil (with ks = 0.38 W/mC
Table 2
Thermal properties of concrete and soil used in the analyses.

Thermal properties Concrete Soil

Analyses are performed using the developed FD code to quantify
heat transfer through a 30-m-long geothermal pile under differ- Diffusivity (m2 /s) c = 0.66 106 s = 1.02 106
Conductivity k (W/mC) kc = 1.5 ks = 2.3
ent thermal loading. A soil domain with radius R = 10 m and height
 O. Ghasemi-Fare, P. Basu / Energy and Buildings 66 (2013) 470479 475

Fig. 3. Ground temperature ( C) prole around a geothermal pile after 60 days of heat rejection for (a) homogeneous ground and (b) ground with a top 5 m desiccated zone.

and s = 1.7 107 m2 /s) just below the ground surface. Fig. 3(b)
shows that the thermal inuence zone is smaller within the top
desiccated soil layer; however, increase in ground temperature Tg
adjacent to the pile is greater in the desiccated soil layer with lower
value of s than that in the soil layer with higher value of s .
The effects of initial temperature difference  (=Tinlet Tinitial )
and uid circulation velocity v on ground temperature Tg is shown
in Fig. 4. It is observed that at any given time t after the start of the
heat transfer operation, the thermal inuence zone is independent
of  and v. Ground temperature Tg within the thermal inuence
zone increases with increase in both  and v. Fig. 5 shows (for
v = 0.02 and 0.1 m s1 ) the variation of temperature T along depth
z at different radial distances; temperature gradient along depth
(dT/dz) increases as v decreases.
The time-dependent evolution of heat ux (per unit length) ql
along the length of the circulation tube is shown in Fig. 6. Heat ux
ql decreases linearly along the length of the circulation tube. Over
a heat rejection period of 60 days, ql at the middle of the pile (i.e.,
at z = 15 m) reduces by almost 30% from its value at the end of the
rst day of operation. Therefore, the use of idealized heat transfer
models with constant values of ql along the entire length of the heat
source would introduce signicant errors in the quantication of
heat transfer through a geothermal pile.
Transient variation of uid temperature Tf along the length of
the circulation tube is shown in Fig. 7. Only few minutes after the
heat transfer starts, Tf varies linearly with depth z. From in situ
performance tests on geothermal piles, Gao et al. [32,33] observed
similar linear distribution of uid temperature along the length of

Fig. 4. Variation of ground temperature Tg for different values of (a) initial temperature difference  (= Tinlet Tinitial ) and (b) uid circulation velocity v.
476 O. Ghasemi-Fare, P. Basu / Energy and Buildings 66 (2013) 470479

0 0
200 seconds
Tinlet=37 C 20 minutes
r=2rp r=rp r=0.5rp
Tinitial=18 C 60 minutes
5 rt=0.02 m 1 day
rp=0.3 m
12 days
10 L=30 m
ks=2.3 W/mC 60 days
10
kc=1.5 W/mC
v=0.1 m/s

Depth z (m)
Depth z (m)

15
20
Tinlet=37 C
Tinitial=18 C
rt=0.02 m
20
rp=0.3 m
L=30 m
30 z=L/2
ks=2.3 W/mC 25
v=0.02 m/s, r=rp kc=1.5 W/mC
v=0.1 m/s, r=rp
30
40 16 20 24 28 32 36 40
18 22 26 30 Fluid temperature Tf (C)
Temperature T (C)
Fig. 7. Variation of uid temperature Tf along the length of the circulation tube.
Fig. 5. Effect of uid circulation velocity v on temperature T along depth z.
the use of a constant value of ql along the entire length of the heat
circulation tubes. The distribution of Tf along the length of the cir- source) can signicantly misinterpret the increase in temperature
culation tube stabilizes (i.e., reaches steady state) after 12 days of within both pile and soil. The maximum difference between predic-
heat exchange operation. tions using the proposed annular cylinder model and the idealized
In order to investigate the effect of variable heat ux on evo- nite line source model can be as high as 17 C at a point adja-
lution of temperature within the heat exchanger pile and that in cent to the heat source and 12 C at pile-soil interface. While the
soil surrounding the pile, result obtained using the proposed annu- use of nite line source model with high values of constant ql would
lar cylinder heat source model is compared with nite line source result in signicant overprediction for pile and soil temperature, the
solution available in literature (Fig. 8). For such a comparison, a use of low values of ql in nite line source model may consistently
constant value of heat ux ql needs to be assigned for the nite line underpredict such temperature (Fig. 8).
source. However, the choice of ql for use in the nite line source The effect of thermal cycles (i.e., successive heat injection and
model introduces signicant uncertainty in the prediction because extraction) on thermal efciency of a heat exchanger pile is also
ql varies along the length of a real geothermal pile and such varia- investigated in this study (Fig. 9). Energy output E per unit length
tion of ql changes with time during heat exchange operation (Fig. 6). of the heat exchanger pile, as plotted in Fig. 9(a), is calculated as:
The values of ql used for nite line source solutions plotted in Fig. 8 E mCpf T f vrt2 Cpf (Tinlet Toutlet )
are the maximum and minimum heat ux values (i.e., ql, max and = = (15)
L L L
ql, min , respectively at points near the top and bottom of the circu-
lation tube) obtained from simulations of one hour, one day, and For the same values of analysis parameters, energy output (or
one week of heat exchange operation using the proposed annular thermal efciency) of the heat exchanger pile does not change due
cylinder model. It is observed that nite line source solutions (i.e., to individual equivalent cycles (with same ) of heat injection
and extraction (Fig. 9a). However, if a heat extraction cycle fol-
lows a heat injection cycle, thermal efciency of the heat exchanger
0 pile increases during heat extraction. This is because heat energy
injected into the ground during the preceding heat injection oper-
1 day ation creates a higher temperature gradient between pile and soil
12 days as soon as the following heat extraction operation starts. Fig. 9(b)
35 days
shows ground temperature response due to individual 60 days
60 days
Tinlet=37 C
cycles of heat injection and extraction and a combined 120 days
10
Tinitial=18 C injection-extraction cycle (heat extraction follows heat injection).
Depth z (m)

rt=0.02 m It is observed that compared to a sole heat extraction cycle, ground

rp= 0.3 m temperature Tg is always higher at any time during a heat extraction
L=15 m
ks=2.3 W/mC cycle that follows a heat injection cycle.
kc=1.5 W/mC
v=0.1 m/s 4.2. Sensitivity of different analysis parameters
20

Sensitivity analysis is performed to investigate the effects of

important analysis parameters on thermal efciency (expressed
in terms of energy output) of geothermal piles and on ground
temperature increment at pile-soil interface. Results from this
30 sensitivity study is presented in the form of Tornado diagrams
30 35 40 45 50 55 60
(Fig. 10), which show the relative inuences of important model
Heat flux per unit length of circulation tube (W/m)
parameters on energy output from a heat exchanger pile and on
Fig. 6. Variation of heat ux ql (per unit length) with depth z at different instants of ground temperature increment. The vertical dashed lines in Fig. 10
heat rejection operation. show the values of desired output (i.e., energy output and ground
 O. Ghasemi-Fare, P. Basu / Energy and Buildings 66 (2013) 470479 477

Fig. 8. Effect of variable heat ux on temperature within pile and soil at different times after the start of heat exchange operation for (a) t = 4 days, (b) t = 12 days, (c) t = 35
days and (d) t = 60 days.

Fig. 9. Effect of thermal loading cycles on (a) energy output (heat transfer efciency) of a geothermal pile and (b) ground temperature response.
478 O. Ghasemi-Fare, P. Basu / Energy and Buildings 66 (2013) 470479
Fig. 10. Effects of important model parameters on (a) efciency of a geothermal pile (energy output) and (b) ground temperature increment at pile-soil interface.
temperature increment) for an expected set of input parame-
ters. The horizontal bars, known as swings of Tornado diagram,
represent the variation of a desired output due to the expected
variation of individual input parameters considered one at a time.
Longer the swing, higher the inuence of the corresponding input
parameter on an output parameter.
The initial temperature difference  (=Tinlet Tinitial ), soil
thermal conductivity ks , and radius of circulation tube rt are,
sequentially, the three most important parameters affecting ther-
mal efciency of a heat exchanger pile (Fig. 10a). ks is the most
sensitive parameter for ground temperature increment (Fig. 10b);
it has reverse effects on thermal efciency of a heat exchanger pile
and on the ground temperature increment.
4.3. Comparison with eld test result
The proposed annular cylinder heat transfer model is used
to predict the temperature variation along one branch of a
U-shaped circulation tube (rt = 0.01 m) embedded in a heat
exchanger pile (L = 25 m, rp = 0.3 m) installed in eld [32,33]. For
this comparison, boundary conditions and values of different input
parameters (ks = 1.3 W/mC, s = 5.86 107 m2 /s, kc = 1.63 W/mC
and c = 7.78 107 m2 /s, Tinitial = 18.2 C, Tinlet = 35.13 C, t = 3 h)
are adopted from Gao et al. [32,33]. At the bottom of the cir-
culation tube, uid temperature obtained from the proposed
analysis (=32.18 C) compares reasonably well with the temper-
ature (=33.14 C) reported by Gao et al. [32,33].
5. Conclusions
An annular cylinder heat transfer model is proposed for ana-
lyzing heat transfer through geothermal piles. A nite difference
code is developed for simultaneous solution of PDEs describing
heat conduction within soil and concrete and heat ow through
heat carrier uid. Results from analyses using the proposed
model conrm that heat transfer through a geothermal pile is
mostly a radial phenomenon. Temperature of the heat carrier uid
decreases linearly along the length of the circulation tube and
reaches to a steady state within a few days after the beginning of
heat exchange operation. Based on a comparison of result obtained
using the proposed model and prediction using the idealized nite
line source model, it can be concluded that the use of a constant
heat ux along the entire length of a geothermal pile may signif-
icantly misinterpret time-dependent evolution of temperature.
Elevated ground temperature caused by the operation of a heat
exchanger pile in summer helps in increasing thermal efciency of
the pile in winter. Sensitivity analysis performed with important
analysis parameters reveals that the initial temperature difference
between ground and circulation uid, thermal conductivity of soil,
and circulation tube radius are, sequentially, the most important
parameters affecting thermal efciency of a heat exchanger pile.
Acknowledgment
The authors gratefully acknowledge the nancial support (Grant
No. 415-77 76R20) provided by the Mid-Atlantic Universities
Transportation Center (MAUTC).
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