Treffer: Techno-economic evaluation of novel geothermal ground heat exchangers.

• Introduced a cost-effective underground heat exchanger known as Reverse-T. • It utilizes the spiral model to minimize drilling and implementation expenses. • The performance and cost of the Reverse-T design were compared to three other heat exchanger models. • Numerical modeling in 3D was used to assess the heat transfer rate of each design under identical technical conditions. • It was concluded that the Reverse-T design has a lower cost and a comparable heat transfer rate. The present research introduces a new ground heat exchanger configuration, termed Reverse-T, aiming to reduce drilling and installation costs in ground-source heat pump systems while maintaining high thermal efficiency. To demonstrate its performance, we conducted three-dimensional numerical simulations of four different heat exchanger designs—U-type, radiator, spiral, and Reverse-T—under uniform technical and boundary conditions. The results show that the Reverse-T design can achieve an approximately 20% lower drilling cost than the spiral design and up to 88% lower cost than the U-type, with comparable thermal outputs of about 2000 W after 48 hours of continuous operation. In addition, a lifecycle cost analysis (LCCA) reveals that, despite a higher pressure drop (requiring a slightly larger pumping power), the Reverse-T configuration still delivers superior overall economic performance over the system's operational lifetime. The Reverse-T requires the least investment. It is 20%, 88%, and 94% cheaper than the spiral, U-type, and radiator models, respectively. These findings highlight the potential of this innovative Reverse-T model in regions where drilling represents a major fraction of the total installation cost. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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