Working mechanism and application of heat exchanger piles

With combined conventional piles and ground source heat pump, a new type of pile, heat exchanger pile, is presented. Firstly, the concept and working mechanism of heat exchanger pile are presented; and the relevant method for classification is come up with. Loops of plastic tubes for heat exchanger are inserted into a pile, which are connected with air-conditional pipe system. The heat transfer from heat exchanger pile and the ground system takes place via fluid in heat exchangers, pile, the surrounding soil and ground water. Heat exchanger piles act as double functions, conventional pile and the borehole in ground source heat pump. Finally, the current application state of heat exchanger piles and the key issues for research on this field are described. In a word, this innovative method is significantly more cost-effective, environment-friendly and energy-saving technology, which is worth applying widely.