Hybrid Geothermal Heat Pump Sizing With Hourly Load Optimization
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current software programs for designing and simulating geothermal heat pump systems are ineffective, offering complex user interfaces, limited accessibility, slow computational speeds, and lack real-time data integration, making it difficult for designers to accurately size heat exchangers and predict energy efficiency in commercial and institutional buildings.
Innovation Solution
A web-based geothermal heat pump design program that allows for detailed building energy analysis, simulating hourly energy consumption, and optimizing energy costs by integrating real-time geographical, weather, and building data, enabling hybrid system designs and comparisons, and providing analytics for investment payback.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If traditional geothermal heat pump design software is used, then design analysis can be performed, but the user interface is complex and accessibility is limited
Solution Approach 1:
The patent creates a web-based replica of traditional geothermal design software functionality, copying the essential design analysis capabilities while delivering them through a simplified web interface that eliminates the complexity of desktop applications
2Productivity
If conventional design software is used, then basic simulations can be run, but computational speed is slow
Solution Approach 1:
The patent replaces traditional mechanical computational methods with web-based algorithms that process geothermal design calculations more efficiently, substituting the old computational mechanics with optimized web-based processing that delivers faster results
3Reliability
If existing software programs are used, then design calculations can be performed, but real-time data integration is lacking
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements feedback mechanisms that continuously integrate real-time geographical, weather, and building data into the geothermal design calculations, ensuring that the system always operates with current and accurate information for optimized performance
4Manufacturing precision
If detailed heat exchanger sizing is performed manually, then accuracy can be achieved, but the process is cumbersome and error-prone
Solution Approach 1:
The patent enables the design system to automatically perform heat exchanger sizing calculations based on input parameters, allowing the system to serve itself by eliminating the need for manual intervention in complex calculations while maintaining high accuracy through automated algorithms
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
The program efficiently predicts energy fluctuations and optimizes energy costs, reducing installation and operating costs by accurately sizing heat exchangers and integrating hybrid systems, thus improving the design and efficiency of geothermal heat pump systems.
Implementation Method 1
GHPs employ a heat exchanger in contact with the ground or groundwater to extract or dissipate heat
Implementation Method 2
GHP systems can use the earth as a heat source in cold winter climates or as a heat sink in warm summer climates
Data Source
AI summary
An in-ground geothermal heat pump (GHP) closed loop optimization method is disclosed for designing, analyzing, optimizing, controlling, and simulating a detailed model and analysis of a building's in-ground geothermal heat pump system, including borehole length, number of boreholes, heat pump capacity, grid layout, total electric operating costs, efficiency ratios, and hybrid designs, among others. In one aspect of the disclosure described herein, the GHP optimization method can reliably and efficiently predict and optimized the fluctuations of the GHP equipment performance in very small increments which enable the determination of energy consumption and demand information on a specific and unique hourly schedule basis for the building design, including incorporating thermal load data for each individual zone of the building. More specifically, the small increment method here can be used to eliminate overly broad approximations by evaluating GHP performance that is specific to building dynamics, constants, and variables for all of the building individual zones and the building's hourly operating schedule, thereby providing an efficient, reliable, simple, and effective geothermal heat pump design and simulation model.