Built by engineers,
for engineers.
A pre-design tool for geothermal systems that is accurate and can save time.
A pre-design tool for engineers
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GSHPs
GSHPs are geothermal systems used to provide heating and cooling to both domestic and commercial buildings, and can also provide heating for hot water. In a closed-loop GSHP system, GHEs are pipes buried in precisely designed and drilled boreholes for vertical systems and either boreholes or trenches for horizontal systems. If well designed, a GSHP system offers significant long-term financial and environmental benefits as a source of clean energy which utilises the relatively constant temperature of the earth to act as a heat source and sink.
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GHEs
There are two main circuits in GSHP systems, the primary circuit (GHEs) and the secondary circuit (indoor heat exchange), connected by a ground source heat pump. The GHE is intimately embedded into a designed depth underground to either absorb or reject heat from or to the ground. Connected to the primary circuit by GSHP, the secondary circuit represents the heat exchange process within the space that requires to be heated or cooled.
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System Setups
There are three main configuration designs for closed-loop GHE systems, those which are vertically-bored, horizontally bored and horizontally trenched. These systems utilise the relatively constant temperature of the earth at depth to supply heating and cooling to buildings more efficiently than air source heat pumps, which exchange heat with the air instead of with the ground.
Vertical Bored
Horizontal Bored
Horizontal Trench
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Design Methods
The level of complexity that GHEs present has resulted in numerous modelling and design methods that can calculate the length of pipe required for a particular GSHP system in a certain environment. The length of pipe will determine the amount of energy the system is able to provide and as a result, this length will dictate which configuration is most viable. This application focuses on the two most common design methods that can determine this length, the American Society of Heating and Refrigerating and Air-Conditioning Engineers (ASHRAE) method, and the International Ground Source Heat Pump Association(IGSHPA) method.
Some of the functionality
- Select your design method
- Select your system configuration
- Enter your own variables
- Calculate the required pipe length
- Email your results as a CSV
Select your design method
Both methods proposed by ASHRAE and IGSHPA are available to select from within the application.
Select your configuration
Once the method has been selected, the user is able to select their desired system configuration.
Enter your parameters
Parameters for Melbourne and typical GSHPs are povided, however the user is able to replace these values with any unique number.
Calculate & Send
The user receives the final pipe-length for both heating and cooling as outputs along with all intermediate parameters.
