Search

As an alternative energy for fossil fuels, geothermal reserve is abundant. In recent years, scholars have investigated geothermal wells through numerical simulations. To the best of our knowledge, many studies have explored the influence factors of thermal power over time, and few studies have investigated the heat transfer mechanism between wellbore and formation in different circumstances. This paper aims to established a transient numerical heat transfer model of U-shaped closed-loop geothermal system with long horizontal section, which can simulate the temperature distribution and heat transfer mechanism during the whole wellbore formation. In the model, the convection term is discretized by using the second-order upwind scheme, and the finite volume method is used to solve it. The numerical results are proven to be correct by comparing with the field data of a well in China. Subsequently, the influence mechanism of fluid type, insulation casing length, fluid injection temperature, flow rate, and horizontal section length on thermal power is explored. The optimal depth of insulation casing under different injection temperatures, flow rates, and horizontal section lengths is suggested so as to provide crucial guidance for engineering practice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Exploiting heat from abandoned mine water using heat pumps is attracting increasing attention worldwide. China has a large number of abandoned coal mines, but there are few applications of geothermal heat recovery from mine water. Here, we report a new case from Shandong, North China. Based on actual geological and underground space structures, numerical analysis is performed to study the flow and heat transfer in the complex connection network among roadways. For given temperature differences on the source side, the underground heat transfer is greatly influenced by flow rates in roadways. Under the acceptable performances and long-term stability of heat pumps, the maximum heat transfer capacity of roadways reaches 697.3 kW at the flow rate of 100 m3/h, with the power per unit length of 151.3 W/m, indicating a promising heat recovery potential. When switching between the extraction and injection well, both fluid directions and the distribution of flow rates in roadways change obviously, thereby affecting the underground heat transfer. Besides dominant flow paths, there exist weak flow paths, which can be identified by numerical analysis, and necessary blocking can be applied to optimize the flow and heat transfer. Excessively long horizontal straight roadways for heat exchange should be avoided. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The hybrid ground-coupled heat pump (HGCHP) systems with supplemental heat rejecter/supplier can effectively solve heat imbalance problems in the subsurface, and consequently improve the operation performance of the geothermal systems. For example, solar energy and/or industrial waste heat may be used as stable heat sources for underground heat storage in northern China with higher heating load, and cooling towers are installed to release heat into the air in southern China, where more cooling demand is needed. This paper reviews and discusses different HGCHP systems, which have been applied in China. And based on the heat transfer model of vertical borehole heat exchangers (BHE) for HGCHP systems, physical and mathematical models of multistage series circuits are developed to illustrate the heat transfer process of the underground thermal storage. A set of parameters, such as borehole spacing, heat recharging rate fractions and thermal properties of soils, which affect the thermal performance of the ground heat exchangers are analyzed, and the optimal solutions are discussed for engineering application. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The energy demand in China is rapidly growing, the development and applications of low energy technologies for green buildings have been paid much concern. The hollow block ventilated wall is proposed in this paper. According to the characteristic of the hollow part from up to down, the supply air passes through the cavity of the block, and then discharges to the outside after the heat exchange with the concrete hollow block, the cooling and heating requirements of envelope caused by outdoor environment can be partially removed; the building cooling/heating load can be greatly reduced or even eliminated. The Frequency-Domain Finite Difference (FDFD) model is established and the thermal performance analysis of hollow wall is carried out by using FDFD method in frequency domain. A CFD model is developed to simulate the thermal characteristics of this structure for reference for validating the FDFD model. The results demonstrate that the predictions of the FDFD and CFD models agree very well, and the FDFD model can provide accurate prediction. When the frequency varies, the frequency response of the heat flux is not obvious in low frequency region and is significant in high frequency. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: In many countries that are experiencing a steep increase of energy demand, there is a growing challenge of responding to this demand by investing in renewable technologies for new power plants. Solar energy seems to be one of the best solutions to reduce the fossil fuels consumption for energy production purposes. In terms of high-power solar plants, concentrating towers are characterized by high efficiencies, but the investment costs are high as well. For this reason, a fundamental issue consists in simulating the solar tower behavior in different locations, in order to provide a precise estimation of both annual energy production and return of the investment. Among these types of solar plants, GEMASOLAR has been recently (2011) put in operation in Andalusia, Spain, and the data that have been obtained by this plant allow one to study its potential for application in different locations. The present work is aimed at simulating the GEMASOLAR plant behavior in some Chinese areas suitable for such a technology. All the simulations proposed here have been obtained through a Solar Advisor Model (SAM). Some of the simulations of the original plant have been modified forcing the plant to run without fossil fuel hybridization or changing its nominal power. After model validation, results have shown encouraging perspectives for the exploitation of this technology in China, with annual overall efficiencies of 14% for the 20 MW power plant (GEMASOLAR nominal power). In addition, the down-scaled plants have been optimized through native SAM software algorithm focusing on geometrical parameters. This procedure has been proved to be able of maintaining a high efficiency (14.97%) even for a 10 MW power plant. The focus has been on pilot plants, since they could represent the first step towards a deep exploitation of concentrating solar thermal power in China, with a relatively low capital risk. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: This paper develops an overall methodology for investigating the thermal and power behaviors of semi-transparent single-glazed photovoltaic window for office buildings in Hong Kong. In order to estimate its overall energy performance, this study is conducted in terms of total heat gain, output power and daylight illuminance. Three simulation models are established, including one-dimensional transient heat transfer model, power generation model and indoor daylight illuminance model. A typical office room reference is chosen as case study, and the weather data from 2003 to 2007 from the Hong Kong Observatory are used as the simulation inputs. By incorporating the simulation results, the overall energy performance can be evaluated in terms of electricity benefits corresponding to five orientations of the studied typical office. The priority of office orientation considering overall energy performance is: south-east, south, east, south-west and west. The findings show that thermal performance is the primary consideration of energy saving in the entire system whereas electricity consumption of artificial lighting is the secondary one. The overall annual electricity benefits are about 900 kWh and 1300 kWh for water-cooled and air-cooled air-conditioning systems respectively. The application of semi-transparent PV glazed window can not only produce clean energy, but also reduce building energy use by reducing the cooling load and electrical lighting requirements, which definitely benefits our environmental and economic aspects. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: In order to investigate the steady heat transfer characteristics of a porous media solar tower receiver developed in China, this paper applies the steady heat and mass transfer models of the porous media to solar receivers, chooses the preferable volume convection heat transfer coefficient model, solves these equations by using the numerical method, and analyzes the typical influences of the porosity, average particle diameter, air inlet velocity, and thickness on the temperature distribution. The following conclusions have been drawn: in the same position or relative position along the downstream, the bigger the average particle diameter is, the higher the solid matrix dimensionless temperature is, the higher the air dimensionless temperature is. The bigger the porosity is, the lower the solid matrix dimensionless temperature is, the bigger the porosity is, the higher the air dimensionless temperature is. The bigger the thickness is, the lower the solid matrix dimensionless temperature is, the higher the air dimensionless temperature is. In a certain depth, the bigger the air inlet velocity is, the higher the solid matrix dimensionless temperature is. After a certain depth, the bigger the air inlet velocity is, the lower the solid matrix dimensionless temperature is, and the bigger the air inlet velocity is, the higher the air dimensionless temperature is. The paper can provide a reference for this type of receiver design and reconstruction. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: Total thermal resistance of ground heat exchanger (GHE) is comprised of that of the soil and inside the borehole. The thermal resistance of soil can be calculated using the linear source theory and cylindrical source theory, while that inside the borehole is more complicated due to the integrated resistance of fluid convection, and the conduction through pipe and grout. Present study evaluates heat exchange rate per depth of GHE by calculating the total thermal resistance, and compares different methods to analyze their similarities and differences for engineering applications. The effects of seven separate factors, running time, shank spacing, depth of borehole, velocity in the pipe, thermal conductivity of grout, inlet temperature and soil type, on the thermal resistance and heat exchange rate are analyzed. Experimental data from several real geothermal heat pump (GHP) applications in Shanghai are used to validate the present calculations. The observations from this study are to provide some guidelines for the design of GHE in GHP systems. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]