IGSHPA Technical Conference & Expo

Baltimore, Maryland

Direct Insertion Ground Loop

Heat Exchanger
Charles Cauchy
October 15 - 16, 2014

Slide 1 of 24

Outline
1. Challenge Solution
2. US DOE Program Goals
3. Technology
4. Thermal Test Results
5. Technology Review
6. Areas of Use
7. Example System Costing
8. Method Comparisons
9. Conclusions
10.Acknowledgements
11.Closing

Slide 2 of 24

The Challenge
Biggest barrier to
greater geothermal
heat pump use

High cost
Large area
Large & expensive
equipment
Slide 3 of 24

The Solution
EarthSpar

50% Cost Reduction

Low landscape disruption
Gets into small areas
Fast installation
High thermal performance

Patent Pending
Slide 4 of 24

Development Overview
Awarded US Dept. of Energy Grant - 2013
GOAL of Program:

To develop a ground loop heat exchanger that can be:

Expediently inserted into the earth

Via the use of man-portable equipment
Resulting in low cost, space efficient ground loops for
ground source heat pumps
Thermally testing the heat exchanger

Slide 5 of 24

Potential Benefits
The Direct Insertion Ground Loop Heat Exchanger
addresses key barriers to wider GSHP adoption by:
Significantly reducing high installation costs for ground loops
Reducing space requirements for ground coupling (slinky
field or large drilling equipment in densely built areas)
Greatly reducing ground cover disruption and providing a
flexible grid structure for placement around obstacles
Allows for angular ground loop placement enhancing understructure installation or radial center point headering

Slide 6 of 24

The Technology
Core Concept Part A
Water Jets/Metal Driving Tip

Loosening soil
Lubricating insertion
Dislodging rocks
Displacement
Hard soil erosion
Deflection

EarthSpar

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The Technology
Core Concept Part B
Up Pipe Flow

Concentric Tube Design

Single Tube Heat Exchanger
With same flow rate achieve
laminar flow in down-flow
Turbulent flow in up-flow

Down Pipe Flow

Improved thermal performance

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The Technology
Pressure Drop in 20ft. EarthSpar
Coaxial Heat Exchanger

Same cross-sectional area

Slide 9 of 24

The Technology
Pressure Drop in 20ft. EarthSpar
Coaxial Heat Exchanger

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The Technology
Core Concept Part C
Insertion Platform

Slide 11 of 24

The Technology
Heat Exchanger Insertion
Insertion into varying soil types
Sand, sandy loam
Gravel, cobble
Clay
Subsurface boulder field (Insertion halted)
Insertion speed ~ 2 4 ft/min
Insertion for 24, 30ft heat exchangers ~ 6 hours at 2 ft/min
[700 ft]
3 hours at 4 ft/min
(total insertion time, including equipment placement on
targets, will be increased)
Extraction of heat exchanger straightforward and rapid

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Thermal Testing
20 EarthSpar Testing
ASHRAE 1118-TRP
Inline water heating device
Precision Watt meter
energy-in
Input power control
Thermocouples in-flow &
out-flow temperatures
Flow meter in-line
~ 10FT
Wireless data acquisition

Slide 13 of 24

80

3:30:59 PM
4:06:00 PM
4:41:00 PM
5:16:01 PM
6:37:23 PM
7:12:24 PM
8:02:36 PM
8:37:37 PM
9:12:37 PM
9:08:57 AM
9:43:58 AM
10:18:58 AM
10:53:59 AM
11:28:59 AM
12:04:00 PM
12:39:00 PM
1:25:11 PM
2:00:12 PM
2:35:12 PM
3:10:13 PM
3:45:13 PM
4:20:14 PM
5:01:00 PM
5:36:01 PM
6:11:01 PM
8:47:12 PM
8:06:22 AM
8:44:41 AM

Temperature

Thermal Testing
Test Data

120

100

y = 2.2366ln(x) + 80.241

Slope of Ave. Temp.

60

40

20

IN

OUT

Ave. T

Ambient

Linear (IN)

Linear (OUT)

Log. (Ave. T)

Linear (Ambient)

Time ~ 41.5 Hours

After 5 Hours Stabilization

Slide 14 of 24

Thermal Testing
Thermal conductivity: Line Source Method
= 3.412

4
356

= 3.412 417.8 2.2366 = 2.249 Btu/hr-ft-F

20W/ft heat rate

17.8 ft of tested length heat exchanger
~ 10F T (heated IN earth cooled OUT)
Thermal insulation between down-flow & up-flow
concentric tubes for 67% of length

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Performance Benefit
Effect of Ground Loop Heat Exchanger Thermal
Conductivity on Loop Length
1000

900

0.96

800
y = 850.06x-0.473

Loop Length ft

700

1.44
2.00

600
500

2.24 EarthSpar
400
300
200
100
0
0

0.5

1.5

2.5

3.5

Thermal k Btu/hr-ft-F

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System Flexibility

Angular insertions
Under structures
Radial loop field
Extraction - straightforward
Shallow water wells
Under structure races for
utilities, communications
lines, water lines

Slide 17of 24

Technology Review

Water-jet technology
Soil displacement/insertion
Tangential obstruction dodging
One-step process
Concentric - High thermal performance
Agile insertion platform tight areas
Angular insertion
Easily extract heat exchanger

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Areas of Use
Where Drilling or Trenching May Be Superior
Where bedrock is close to the surface
Areas/soils with closely spaced large rocks
Large commercial/industrial/institutional systems
Single source ground loop/non-distributed
Excavation already planned (i.e.. Parking lot)
Capital equipment (i.e.. Drilling rigs) on-site and can be
amortized over many borings
Limited space (tons/ft2) drilling excels
EarthSpar will not replace existing ground loop methodologies
EarthSpar will be strong adjunct methodology in many applications

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Cost Advantage
Estimated Ground Loop Cost Comparison
Standard Ground Loop $ vs. DIGLHE $
4 ton example (700 Vertical)
Boreholes DIGLHE
Drilling w/grout

$9,100

$1,400

Pipe

$1,252

$2,240

Connection Pipe, Fittings

$ 400

$1,000

Completion labor, etc.

$1,100

$1,400

Total

Insertion labor

$11,852 $6,040

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Method Comparisons
EarthSpar

Drilling

Earth Moving

Other

Low Cost
Landscape
Preservation
Limited
Access
High
Performance

Existing Loop
Paradigms

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Conclusions
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.

The EarthSpar concept is a viable technology

Core concepts were proven to work to drive pipe, displace soils
and function even with obstructions (rocks)
Insertion times (> 2 ft/min) allow for rapid placement of GSHP
ground loops
High thermal performance may lead to shorter lengths of heat
sink in the ground than with conventional designs
Small, mobile insertion equipment allows for ground loops to be
placed in space restrained areas
Capital costs associated with ground loops (bore drilling and
large horizontal field processes) are greatly reduced
Project goals were met (rapid insertion & thermal testing)
Can reduce ground loop installation cost by 50%
Will expand GSHP market in residential & small commercial

Slide 22 of 24

Acknowledgements
Special thanks
to the U.S. Department of Energy and Bahman
Hebibzadeh (DOE Program Manager)
for supporting the development of the EarthSpar
Direct Insertion Ground Loop Heat Exchanger
&
Rex Ambs Geofurnace LLC
&
IGSHPA

Slide 23 of 24

Charles Cauchy
ccauchy@promethient.com

231-633-1702
www.promethientgeo.com

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