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 O rder N u m b er 9520438

N u m erica l m od elin g o f th e tran sien t th erm al interference o f

v ertica l U -tu b e h ea t exchangers

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Muraya, Norman Kaguma, Ph.D.
Texas A&M University, 1994
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 N U M ER IC A L M O DELING OF THE T R A N S IE N T

TH ERM A L IN T E R FE R E N C E

OF VERTICAL U -T U B E HEAT EX C H A N G ER S

A D issertation

by

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NO R M A N K. MURAYA

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S u b m itted to th e Office of G rad u ate Studies of
Texas A&M University
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in p artia l fulfillm ent of th e requirem ents for th e degree of

D O C T O R O F P H IL O S O P H Y
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D ecem ber 1994

M ajor Subject: M echanical Engineering

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 N U M E R IC A L M O DELING OF THE T R A N S IE N T

TH ER M AL IN T E R FE R E N C E

OF VERTICAL U -T U B E HEAT E X C H A N G ER S

A D issertation

by

N O R M A N K. MU RAYA

S u b m itted to Texas A&M U niversity

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in p artia l fulfillm ent of th e requirem ents
for th e degree of
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D O C T O R O F P H IL O S O P H Y

Approved as to style and content by:

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Dennisis L. O ’Neal W arren M. H ^ftm pon

(C o-C hair of C om m ittee) (C o-C hair of C om m ittee)
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G uy Fipps Htaarry
rry A. Hoga
Hogan
(M em ber) (M em ber)

G. P. P eterson
(H ead of D ep artm en t)

Decem ber 1994

M ajor S ubject: M echanical Engineering

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 A B ST R A C T

N um erical M odeling of th e Transient T herm al Interference

of Vertical U -tube H eat Exchangers. (D ecem ber 1994)

N orm an K. M uraya, B.S.. W heaton College;

B.S.. Texas A&M U niversity; M.S., Texas A&M U niversity

C’o-C hairs of Advisory C om m ittee: Dr. D ennis L. O ’Neal

Dr. W arren M. Heffington

N on-linear finite elem ent m odels were developed to sim ulate transient heat

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and mass transfer in th e soil surrounding th e ground h eat exchangers of ground-
coupled heat pum ps (G C H P s) operating in th e cooling m ode. P aram etric studies
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were perform ed w ith two dim ensional horizontal cross sectional models. T he heat
tran sfer and te m p e ra tu re d istrib u tio n s yielded excess errors less th an 6 % and 3%,
respectively, w hen com pared to analytical solutions.
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Two constant te m p e ra tu re sources perform ed equivalent heating as one constant
te m p e ra tu re source having twice th e radius. For constant heat flux sources, the
equivalent radius was found to be increased by x/2- A h ea t flux equivalent radius
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(r h,eqv) was developed and shown to be m ore consistent th a n th e geom etric radius
( rg,eqv)• All equivalent radii varied w ith tim e and source separation.
A heat exchanger effectiveness for two sources, ( c a ), was introduced based on
an earlier definition for one source. Effectiveness was found to be independent of a
dim ensionless te m p e ra tu re variable th a t included te m p e ra tu re s of the tubes and soil,
and varied only w ith separation distance at steady sta te . T herm al short circuiting
was defined as 1 — s \ and ranged from 38% to 47% in th e reasonable installation
sep aration range.
Non-hom ogenous m edia were m odeled by varying backfill therm al conductivity.
M axim um heat transfer was achieved w ith a fictitious backfill therm al conductivity
of 1,000 W /m -K , while m easured b entonite backfill conductivities were less th an 2

R e p r o d u c e d w ith p e r m issio n o f th e co p y rig h t o w n er . F u rth er rep ro d u ctio n p roh ib ited w ith o u t p e r m issio n .
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W /m -K . T h e overall h eat transfer increased w ith backfill th erm al conductivity b u t

£ \ decreased. T herefore, th e backfill effectiveness 6'/ii) ° f C’ouvillion was used to

ran k backfill perform ance. T he range of Sb'fil was from 45% for touching b entonite
backfill tu b es to 60% for th e fictitious backfill a t a separation of seven l /D„.
M oisture m igration was in co rp o rated into the num erical finite elem ent m odel
by form ulating coupled p artia l differential equations for non-linear h eat and m ass
tran sfer. Sim ulations w ith decreasing soil m oisture contents resulted in lower th erm al

co n d u ctivity and perform ance degradation.

Increasing th e bore hole size im proved th e efficiency (decreased th erm a l short
circuiting) by as m uch as 20%. In addition, higher conductivity fictitious backfills
im proved efficiency by up to an additional 20%. However, cost savings in b o th cases

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h ad a negligible effect com pared to th e bore hole cost.

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 DEDICATIO N

I wish to dedicate this d issertation to my parents, B eth W anjiru and Ayub

M uraya for th eir invaluable support and encouragem ent for excellence in learning.

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 VI

A C K N O W L ED G EM E N TS

I wish to th an k my C o-C hairm en Dr. W arren Heffington and Dr. Dennis

O ’Neal for their tim e and technical supervision. In addition, I appreciated the

P h.D . com m ittee guidance ex tended by Dr. Hogan in M echanical Engineering and
Dr. F ipps in A gricultural E ngineering. I gratefully acknowledge em ploym ent and
in d u strial experience provided during th e course of this study. P a rtial em ploym ent

was provided by the D epartm ent of Energy (D O E ) p rojects for the Energy A nalysis
and Diagnostic C enter and th e In d u strial A ssessm ent C enter. A dditional em ploym ent

was also provided by th e LoanSTA R program for th e S ta te of Texas.

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 N O M EN C LA T U R E

Symbol Description MKS Units

a coefficients of general tw o-point boundary-value problem s

a\ coefficient of te m p e ra tu re dependent heat source
Cp coefficient of T in F E heat equation (pcp) kJ/(m 3 •K)
cp specific h eat k J / ( k g ■K )
[C] FE capacitance m a trix
Dt th erm al m oisture diffusivity m~ /( s ■K )
D0 diam eter of cylindrical h ea t sourse m

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d y cartesian coordinate for line source m
E specific enthalpy kJ/kg

e
F(Z)
enthalpy
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cylindrical constant te m p e ra tu re weighting function
kJ

[F] F E m a trix for source term s and loads

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/ F E source term s and loads
G (Z,R ) cylindrical h eat source weighting function
g grav itatio n al co n stan t m /s2
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h convection te rm in h eat tran sfer kJ/m 2 •K

J\ Bessel function first kind of order i and exponential j
k th erm al conductivity W / m ■K
[A'] FE dependent variable loading m atrix
Ki hydraulic conductivity of phase i m /s
L la te n t h ea t kJ/kg
I length m
M mass kg
m m ass flux density k g / ( m 2 -s )
n norm al coordinate m
P to ta l gas pressure P a = N / m 2 or bar = 105P a

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 p p artia l pressure bar or Pa
Q heat flux W
q specific heat flux W/kg
Qt heat flux proportional to te m p e ra tu re W /K
R radii
R gc specific gas constant kJj(kg-K)
R.H. relative hum idity
r radial coordinate m
r g,eqv geom etric equivalent radius for dual source

r^ egu heat flux equivalent radius for dual source or

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equivalent num ber of sources = (Q1+Q;)/2
r ki,g,eqv equivalent high te m p e ra tu re geom etric radius
for dual source = ------— /g, m— r
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r res residual in F E variational form ulation

r0 radius of cylindrical heat sourse (R = 1 .0 ) m
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Si liquid source ( + ) or sink (-) kg/m 3
S3 specific storage to - 1
T te m p e ra tu re °C
t tim e s
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u generic variable to be solved in general F E

variational form ulation
v F E variational test function
x cartesian coordinate m
x sep non-dim ensioal separation p aram eter
= ( z + 2 r 0 ) / r 0 or (l / D 0)
Y? Bessel function second kind order i and
exponential j
y cartesian coordinate m
Z Fourier num ber = ( a t / R 3)
z cartesian depth coordinate m

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 LIST OF GREEK SYMBOLS
Symbol Description MKS Units

a th erm a l diffusivity i*/t

ah coefficient of h eat diffusion boundary condition

l3 — —, r p aram eter in transient line solution

2 v/a (t—r) r
j3h coefficient of h eat diffusion boundary condition
3x liquid th erm a l expansivity t —i

T property conserved by flux in FE variational

form ulation

7 F E form ulation constant loading

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8 change in p roperty

s\ coil th erm a l effectiveness

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Q1 + 2 , net
( Q i tisolated~^Q2, isolated

e uf n backfill th erm al effectiveness =

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C ( A T ) a/ ( A T )

rj coordinate for y in F E m aster elem ent

9 tim e integration scheme

9cyin cylindrical angular coordinate . radians

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$i volum etric w ater content

9W w ater content fraction

A th erm a l short circuiting (1 — &a )

A th erm a l conductivity W j m ■K

£ coordinate for x in F E m aster elem ent

p density kg/m 3

cr flux in F E variational form ulation

cr' to ta l stress in F E m oisture equation n /m 2

$ porosity

4>i F E basis functions

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 i i m e n s i o n l e s s te m p e ra tu re =

$ suction pressure m _1
xl'i FE shape functions

Q m aster F E elem ent

Qe actu al elem ent in F E grid

8Q b o undary of F E elem ent

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 XI

LIST OF SUBSCRIPT SYMBOLS

Symbol Description

d dry

// farfield (oo)
h heat
I liquid
/t dynam ic viscosity
o condition at tim e zero

p constant pressure
s soil

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v vapor
■w w ater IE
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 TABLE OF C O NTENTS

CHAPTER Page

I IN T R O D U C T IO N ................................................................................................... 1

1.1 C hallenges of C ooling-dom inated G C H P s .......................................... 4

1.2 O b j e c ti v e s ..................................................................................................... 5
1.3 P r o c e d u r e ........................................................................................................ 6
1.4 O utline of T h e s i s .......................................................................................... 9

II L IT E R A T U R E R E V I E W ....................................................................................... 11

II. 1 O verall U-value - A n a ly tic a l.................................................................... 12

11.2 S tead y -state Single H eating Source - Analytical ............................. 13
11.3 S tead y -state D ual H eat Source Superposition - A nalytical . . . . 15

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11.4 Transient Line Solution - A n a ly tic a l..................................................... 17
11.5 Transient C ylindrical Source - A n a ly tic a l........................................... 17
11.6 Leg Spacing and S hort C ircuiting - A nalytical, FD and F E . . . 20
11.7 Transient N on-hom ogenous M edia - FD and F E .............................. 23
11.8 T hree D im ensional A nalysis - FD and F E .......................................... 24
11.9 M oisture M igration - F E ........................................................................... 26
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II.10 L itera tu re S u m m a ry .................................................................................... 33
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III F IN IT E E L E M E N T H EA T T R A N S F E R E Q U A T IO N S .............................. 36

III. 1 Classical Second-order Tw o-point B oundary-value P roblem . . . 37

111.2 T im e -d e p e n d e n c e ........................................................................................ 39
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111.3 S patial D is c re tiz a tio n .................................................................................. 42

111.4 C om plete D iscretization in T i m e .......................................................... 49
111.5 Physical Significance of T e r m s ................................................................ 52
111.6 C om p u tatio n of M a tric e s ........................................................................... 52
111.7 T im e-stepping Scheme T h e o r y ................................................................ 52
111.8 S u m m a ry ......................................................................................................... 53

IV VALIDATION O F HEAT T R A N S F E R M O D E L S .......................................... 54

IV. 1 Overall U -v a lu e .............................................................................................. 54

IV .2 Single Source H e a tin g ................................................................................. 55
IV .3 Dual C ylindrical Source H e a tin g ............................................................. 65
IV .4 Single Source C onstant T e m p e ra tu re .................................................... 66
IV .5 D ual C ylindrical C onstant T e m p e ra tu re .............................................. 69
IV .6 S u m m a ry .......................................................................................................... 69

R e p r o d u c e d w ith p e r m issio n o f th e co p y rig h t o w n er . F u rth er rep ro d u ctio n p roh ib ited w ith o u t p e r m issio n .
 CHAPTER Page

V A P P L IC A T IO N S O F T H E HEAT T R A N S F E R M O D E L S ...................... 70

V .l Equivalent D ia m e te r ................................................................................... 70
V.2 Short C ircuiting and Equivalent D ia m e te r ......................................... 76
V.3 Backfill (N on-hom ogenous p ro p e r tie s ).................................................. 93
V.4 Case S tudy: C om parison w ith Mei E x p e r im e n t................................ 101
V.5 M ulti-pipe In s ta lla tio n s ............................................................................. 104
V .6 S u m m a ry ......................................................................................................... 106
V.7 C onclusion on E quivalent D ia m e te r ...................................................... 108
V .8 F u rth er W o r k ................................................................................................. 108

VI F IN IT E E L E M E N T H EA T AND MASS T R A N S F E R EQ U A TIO N S . . 109

VI. 1 P hillip and de Vries M o d e l....................................................................... 109

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V I.2 H am pton: F E w ith M o is tu r e ................................................................... 110
VI.3 H eat T ransfer E q u a tio n .............................................................................. 110
V I.4 W ater T r a n s p o r t ........................................................................................... 119
V I.5 S u m m a ry .........................................................................................................
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V II VALIDATION O F H EA T AND MASS T R A N S F E R M O D E L S 127

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V II. 1 M odel S t r u c t u r e ............................................................................................ 127
V II.2 N on-linear M odel C alibration V a ria b le s ............................................... 128
V II.3 V alidation an d A p p lic a tio n ....................................................................... 132
V II.4 S u m m a ry ......................................................................................................... 133
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V III A P P L IC A T IO N T O G C H P SY STEM D E S IG N ............................................ 136

V III. 1 Sizing C r i t e r i a ................................................................................................ 136

V III.2 A pplication of H eat Transfer M o d e ls .................................................... 137

IX CO N C LU SIO N S AND R E C O M M E N D A T IO N S ............................................ 147

IX. 1 R e c o m m e n d a tio n s........................................................................................ 150

R E F E R E N C E S ......................................................................................................................... 151

A P P E N D IX

A F IN IT E E L E M E N T M E T H O D ............................................................................ 157

A .l F in ite E lem ent M e th o d .............................................................................. 158

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A P P E N D IX Page

A .2 M aster E le m e n t............................................................................................. 158

A .3 E lem ent M ap Te .......................................................................................... 159
A .4 Shape F unction In te r p o la tio n ................................................................... 161
A .5 Q u a d ratu re In te g r a tio n .............................................................................. 163
A .6 C o n c lu sio n ....................................................................................................... 165

B F IN IT E E L E M E N T HEAT T R A N S F E R C O D E FL O W CHART . . . . 166

B .l PART I- Four C o m p o n e n ts ....................................................................... 166

B.2 PART II- S ubroutine T r e e ......................................................................... 166
B.3 PART III - S ubroutine A p p lic a tio n s...................................................... 168

C F IN IT E E L E M E N T HEAT T R A N S F E R AND M O IST U R E C ODE

FLO W C H A R T .......................................................................................................... 174

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C .l PART I- Four C o m p o n e n ts ....................................................................... 174
C.2 PART II- S ubroutine T r e e ......................................................................... 175
C.3 PART III - S ubroutine A p p lic a tio n s ...................................................... 177
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V I T A ........................................................................................................................................... 185
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LIST OF TABLES

Table Page

1 Sophistication of various m o d e ls ............................................................................ 34

2 P aram eters and results for different tem p eratu re s o u rc e s .............................. 87

3 T h erm al effectiveness as a function of separation and te m p e ra tu re . . . . 94

4 T herm ophysical d a ta for non-hom ogenous g r i d ............................................... 98

5 P roperties for sim ulating M ei’s e x p e rim e n t....................................................... 103

6 C om parison of a u th o r’s m odel w ith various m o d e ls ....................................... 134

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7 E a rth loop size by configuration and soil ty p e ................................................... 144

8 Cost vs bore hole w i d t h ............................................................................................ 145

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C onsum ption and bore hole c o s t ............................................................................ 145

10 Cost vs backfill th erm al c o n d u c tiv ity ................................................................... 146

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 XVI

LIST OF FIG U R ES

F igure Page

1 T ypical h eat pum p system in cooling m ode w ith th ree vertical series
U -tube l o o p s ........................................................................................................... 3

2 G round h eat exchanger cross section showing th e two tubes of a U -tube

w ith b a c k fill............................................................................................................ 4

3 N on-dim ensionalization p a r a m e te r s ............................................................... 8

4 Design m ethods of experience, stead y -state, tran sien t and non-linear . . 12

5 S tead y -state single source heating in a Claesson g r i d ............................. 14

S tead y -state dual source heating w ith Claesson grid c o o rd in a te s ...... 16

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6

7 T h e double tw o-coordinate s y s te m ................................................................ 25

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T h erm al d ry-out curves for (a) resistivity and (b) conductivity.......... 28

9 Soil triangle of th e basic soil te x tu ra l classes.............................................. 29

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10 O verall h eat transfer coefficient (U A ) for constant tem p eratu re source in
FD and F E m o d e ls ............................................................................................... 55

11 F E m esh for tw in cylinders w ith th re e nodes p er elem ent (0-10ro in grid

of 1600ro w here r 0 =0.0133 m ) ........................................................................ 56
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12 FD constant h eat stair-step approxim ation of circular pipes w ith one

node p er elem ent (0-3ro in grid of 400ro) ............................................................ 57

13 T ransient constant heat source te m p e r a tu r e ..................................................... 59

14 S teady sta te constant h eat source te m p e r a tu r e ........................................ 60

15 Excess error for F E and F D ..................................................................................... 61

16 T ransient finite elem ent boundary size te m p e ra tu re a c c u ra c y .................... 62

17 T ransient FD boundary size tem p eratu re a c c u r a c y ........................................ 63

18 N um ber of nodes vs accuracy in 100 radii m o d e ls ................................... 64

R e p r o d u c e d w ith p e r m issio n o f th e co p y rig h t o w n er . F u rth er rep ro d u ctio n p roh ib ited w ith o u t p e r m issio n .
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F ig u r e Page

19 D ual heat source m odels for F E an d F D ....................................................... 66

20 FD constant te m p e ra tu re stair-step approxim ation of circular pipes

(0-3ro in grid of 400ro) ......................................................................................... 67

21 T ransient single source co n stan t te m p e ra tu re (35°C ) for FD and F E . . . 68

22 B oundary condition on s u r f a c e .......................................................................... 72

23 B oundary condition on cross sectional a r e a .................................................. 72

24 H eat transfer as a function of tim e and r a d i u s ................................................... 73

25 G rid for two constant h ea t s o u rc e s ......................................................................... 75

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26 F E m esh grid w ith nine available source lo c a tio n s ..................................... 77

27 Use of q u ad rila te ral four-node elem ents to ex ten d g r i d ............................

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28 N on-dim ensional sep a ratio n param eters, x 3ep = (x + 2 r 0) / r 0 and l / D 0 ■ ■ 79

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29 Separation param eters for one-inch nom inal pipes (2.7cm o . d . ) ........... 80

30 T h erm al effectiveness and th erm a l short circuiting vs separation

distance and grid s i z e ........................................................................................... 82
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31 C oncentric cylinder m odel for geom etric equivalent radius r eqv of two
s o u rc e s ....................................................................................................................... 83

32 Equivalent radius, r g>eqv, of sim ilar s o u rc e s ......................................................... 84

33 Equivalent h ea t flux radius rh<eqv of sim ilar s o u rc e s .......................................... 85

34 T h erm al effectiveness £ \ for different sources (above) tran sien t and

(below) s te a d y - s ta te ............................................................................................. 88

35 T ransient geom etric equivalent radius rhi^g<eqv for different sources . . . . 89

36 S teady-state equivalent geom etric radius ^ for different sources . . 90

37 S teady-state heat flux equivalent radius r^ eqv for different sources . . . . 90

R e p r o d u c e d with p e r m issio n o f th e co p y rig h t o w n e r . F u rth er rep ro d u ctio n p roh ib ited w ith o u t p e r m issio n .
 Figure Page

38 Effect of farfield tem p eratu re on therm al effectiveness................................. 92

39 Effect of coil tem p eratu re difference on therm al effectiv en ess.................... 93

40 T herm al effectiveness as a function of separation and te m p e ra tu re . . . . 94

41 Energy balance for the hom ogenous nine-source m odel at various radii . 95

42 Non-hom ogenous m aterial c o m p o sitio n .............................................................. 96

43 T herm al conductivity of ben to n ite g r o u t s ......................................................... 97

44 Net heat dissipated in th e s o i l ............................................................................... 99

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45 H eat flux equivalent radius r ^ e q v ......................................................................... 100

46 T herm al effectiveness................................................................................................ 101

47 Backfill effectiveness.................................................................................................. 102

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48 F E grid to sim ulate M ei’s e x p e rim e n t................................................................ 103
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49 T ransient equivalent radius sim ulating M ei’s experim ent.............................. 104

50 F lat and bundle m ulti-pipe a rra n g e m e n ts ......................................................... 105

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51 Typical four pipe F E g rid ......................................................................................... 106

52 S teady-state heat tran sfer ratio of four pipes vs two p i p e s ......................... 107

53 C ontrol volum e for w ater flow in x-direction ..................................................... 121

54 C om parison of w ater content changes when suction pressure increased. . 122

55 Volum etric w ater content (V W C) vs suction pressure.................................... 130

56 Suction pressure vs hydraulic conductivity......................................................... 131

57 H eat tran sfer for various w ater contents and operation m o d e s .................. 132

58 Backfill effectiveness for various w ater contents and operation m odes . . 133

R e p r o d u c e d with p e r m issio n o f th e co p y rig h t o w n e r . F u rth er rep ro d u ctio n p roh ib ited w ith o u t p e r m issio n .
 XIX

Figure Page

59 T h e F E stru ctu res of preprocessor, processor, tim e loop, and post

p ro c e s so r......................................................................................................................... 157

60 Q u adrilateral linear m apping..................................................................................... 159

61 T riangular linear m apping.......................................................................................... 160

62 T ransform ation of q u ad rilateral area e le m e n ts .................................................. 161

63 Nine node shape f u n c tio n s ........................................................................................ 162

64 Nine-point Gauss q u ad ratu re rule integration points and w eights............... 164

65 T h e F E stru c tu re of preprocessor, processor, tim e loop, and

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p o s tp ro c e s so r................................................................................................................. 166

66 S ubroutine sequences in Q T ..................................................................................... 167

67 T h e F E stru c tu re of preprocessor, processor, tim e loop, and

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p o s tp ro c e s s o r................................................................................................................. 174
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68 O verall subroutine sequences in Q M ..................................................................... 175

69 T im e loop subroutine sequences in Q M ................................................................ 176

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R e p r o d u c e d w ith p e r m issio n o f th e co p y rig h t o w n er . F u rth er rep ro d u ctio n p roh ib ited w ith o u t p e r m issio n .
 1

CHAPTER I

IN TR O D U C T IO N

H eat pum ps provide cooling and heating to residences. T he condenser in

cooling m ode operation for a heat pum p is usually eith er a refrigerant-to-air heat

exchanger (used in air-source h eat pum ps (A SH P)) or a refrigerant-to-w ater heat

exchanger (used in w ater source h eat pum ps (YVSHP) and ground-coupled h eat pum ps

(G C'H P)). In a G C H P, th e w ater from the refrigerant-to-w ater heat exchanger is

circidated thro u g h tu b in g in th e ground. ASHPs are th e m ost com m on h eat pum p
for residential applications. W SH Ps are prim arily used for com m ercial building

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applications. G C H Ps offer th ree p o ten tial advantages over an ASHP. F irst. G C H Ps

replace th e outd o o r fan w ith a fluid-circulating pum p and elim inate th e o u td o o r coil

frost and defrost losses.

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Second, th e G C H P heat exchanger can have b e tte r heat

tran sfer because w ater is a superior h eat transfer m edia th a n air. T h ird , and m ost
significantly, th e ground te m p e ra tu re is closer to th a t desired for hum an com fort th an
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th e outside air during extrem e h eat or cold. W hile o u td o o r te m p e ra tu re s change
hourly, ground tem p eratu res below nine m eters are relatively constant all year. In

Texas, sum m er d aytim e air tem p eratu res often reach over 38°C. In co n tra st, soil
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tem p eratu res vary from 16°C to 27°C, depending on location in th e s ta te (G onzalez,

1993).
M odels of G C H Ps perform ance can be used to optim ize designs for ad equate

capacity while not incurring excessive pipe lengths. U nfortunately, each of th e th ree

th eo retical G C H P advantages can be negated if not designed properly. D esigning

a G C H P in stallatio n is much m ore difficult th an an ASHP or conventional air
conditioner. Hence, th e potentials for increased efficiency m ust be optim ized for

su itab le applications w ith ap p ro p riate evaluation tools.

T h e style and form at for this dissertation conforms to th a t of th e A S M E Journal o f

Heat Transfer.

R e p r o d u c e d w ith p e r m issio n o f th e co p y rig h t o w n er . F u rth er rep ro d u ctio n p roh ib ited w ith o u t p e r m issio n .