Efficient numerical modeling of borehole heat exchangers

This paper presents a finite element modeling technique for double U-tube borehole heat exchangers (BHE) and the surrounding soil mass. Focus is placed on presenting numerical analyses describing the capability of a BHE model, previously reported, to simulate three-dimensional heat transfer processes in multiple borehole heat exchangers embedded in a multi-layer soil mass, in a computationally efficient manner. Geothermal problems which require very fine meshes, of the order of millions of finite elements, can be simulated using coarse meshes, of the order of a few hundred to a few thousand elements. Accordingly, significant reduction of CPU time is gained, rendering the model suitable for utilization in engineering practice. A validation example comparing computed results with measured results is presented. Parametric analyses are also presented describing the possible utilization of the model for research works and design optimization. (C) 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.