Effect of axial heat transfer and atmospheric conditions on the energy performance of GSHP systems: A simulation-based analysis

This paper shows a study to assess the effects of both axial heat transfer in boreholes and the weather at ground level on the fluid temperature in the boreholes, as well as on the energy efficiency of the heat pump. To this purpose, long-term analysis of two ground source heat pump systems was conducted over ten years by means of a detailed numerical simulation tool. The systems were for two office buildings with unbalanced load profiles in Canada and Italy. These case studies were analyzed as they were being designed, then the influence of the borehole arrangement and borehole length was also investigated. The simulation results show that axial heat transfer affects fluid temperature in the boreholes and the seasonal energy efficiency of the whole system more than the weather. Moreover, when the load profile is unbalanced, neglecting the effect of weather does not always ensure a conservative design of the borehole field.