Performance Evaluation of a Hyperloop Ground Source Heat Pump System in a Residential Building.

Ground Source Heat Pump (GSHP) systems have the potential for achieving high system efficiencies. Various types of inground heat exchangers have been developed to optimize the performance of using them with heat pump systems for space heating and cooling. This paper evaluates a new Hyperloop Ground Source Heat Pump (HGSHP) system in a numerical way, where a new type of ground heat exchanger, Hyperloop, is used. It consists of multiple capillary tubes buried horizontally and vertically on edge, as a flat mat, in shallow ground. Different types of engineered fill materials, such as sand, etc., can be used to enhance the heat transfer and energy storage in the in-ground region to optimize the efficiency of a heat pump system used in a residential house. The HGSHP system is expected to have higher efficiency compared to a conventional vertical closedloop GSHP system. The results of numerical simulations in TRNSYS indicate that for a single-family house located in a cold climate (Bismark, North Dakota), the HGSHP system studied can not only meet the heating and cooling loads but also achieve higher efficiency and lower energy consumption (up to 29% energy savings), compared with a conventional vertical GSHP system. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]