Suggestion of a Scale Factor to Design Spiral-Coil-Type Horizontal Ground Heat Exchangers

Spiral-coil-type horizontal ground heat exchangers (GHEs) have been increasingly used in ground source heat pump (GSHP) systems due to their higher heat transfer performance. Many attempts have been made to investigate the heat transfer mechanism and establish design methods for the spiral-coil-type ground heat exchangers. Nevertheless, a universal design method for horizontal GHEs has not been reported due to its complexity. In contrast to the spiral-coil-type horizontal GHEs, straight-line-type horizontal GHEs have been widely adopted since they are easy to design for use in industry. In this study, a scale factor model, which could be used to design the coil-type exchanger based on the design length of a straight-line-type heat exchanger, was presented. The ratio of the mean thermal transfer energy between the straight-line-type and spiral-coil-type heat exchangers was numerically investigated by considering weather condition, configuration of GHE, and thermal properties of the ground. Using the numerical results for a total of 108 cases, artificial neural network and linear regression methods were employed for the model development. The proposed model of the scale factor may provide an alternative way to design the spiral-coil-type horizontal GHEs.