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In the autumn of 2000, the British Engineering Council awarded an Environmental Engineering award to the groundsource heatpump project at Commerce way, Croydon Surrey. This largest UK groundsource project is a speculative built industrial building of about 3000 m 2 with both offices and warehouse facilities. The building, that is occupied by Ascom...
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The Lewis Glucksman Art Gallery is a cultural and educational institution promoting the visual arts at University College Cork (UCC), Ireland. Opened in October, 2004, the 2350m2 building is serviced by a geothermal heating and cooling system, which allows heating and cooling to be provided at the same time using two water-cooled heat pumps. This e...
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... Field tests of the thermal performance of borehole heat exchangers in three-story Croydon building (UK) found that the fluid temperatures in groundloop were significantly lower than expected during summer season. This discrepancy was mainly attributed to the additional cooling provided by groundwater flow, which had been ignored during the design process [22]. In another study, Witte constructed pumping and injection wells that would create groundwater flow at different velocities and observed that as this parameter increased from 0 to the condition when the Darcy flow velocity was 0.274 m/day, comprehensive thermal conductivity coefficient increased from 2.4 W/m K to 3.1 W/m K. ...
The underground heat exchangers of ground source heat pumps pass through different strata. The physical properties of these strata, particularly groundwater flow, affect heat exchange efficiency. In this study, energy piles located in an ecological tourism resort near Binhai Lake, Tianjin, China were subjected to heat transfer performance testing. First, the comprehensive thermal conductivity of surrounding soils and heat exchange rate of each pile were determined using thermal response tests (TRT) and thermal performance tests (TPT), and previously undisturbed soil was drilled from the field and subjected to laboratory evaluations respectively, which indicates that effects of groundwater flow on the heat transfer performance of thermal physical properties, thermal conductivity, and moisture content. Finally, 3D finite element modeling was used to simulate heat exchanges in the underground heat exchanger at different groundwater flow velocities, thus verifying the positive effects of groundwater on the heat exchange performances of energy piles. Our calculations suggested that as the groundwater flow velocity increased, the average inlet and outlet water temperature decreased and the comprehensive thermal conductivity performance increased significantly. Therefore, even slight groundwater flow could have a significant effect on the heat exchange performance of the pile exchanger.
... Build-up of carbon dioxide and other GHGs is leading to global warming with unpredictable but potentially catastrophic consequences. When fossil fuels burn, they emit toxic pollutants that damage the environment and people's health with over 700,000 deaths resulting each year, according to the World Bank review of 2000 [21][22][23][24][25][26][27][28]. ...
... Build-up of carbon dioxide and other GHGs is leading to global warming with unpredictable but potentially catastrophic consequences. When fossil fuels burn, they emit toxic pollutants that damage the environment and people's health with over 700,000 deaths resulting each year, according to the World Bank review of 2000 [21][22][23][24][25][26][27][28]. ...
Energy use reductions can be achieved by minimising the energy demand, by rational energy use, and by recovering heat. The increased availability of reliable and efficient energy services stimulates the use of more green energies. The adoption of green or sustainable approaches to the way in which society is run is seen as an important strategy in finding a solution to the energy problem. The key factors to reducing and controlling CO2 emissions to the atmospheric sink, which is the major contributor to global warming, are the use of alternative approaches to energy generation and the exploration of how these alternatives are used today and may be used in the future as green energy sources. This paper discusses a comprehensive review of biomass energy sources, environment and sustainable development. This includes the biomass energy technologies, energy efficiency systems, energy conservation scenarios, energy savings and other measures necessary to reduce climate change.
... It can also have many other additional social, economic and health benefits, such as warmer and healthier homes, lower fuel bills and company running costs and, indirectly, jobs. Britain wastes 20 per cent of its fossil fuel and electricity use (Witte, et al., 2002). This implies that it would be costeffective to cut £10 billion a year off the collective fuel bill and reduce CO 2 emissions by some 120 million tones. ...
Aims: The increased availability of reliable and efficient energy services stimulates new development alternatives. This article discusses the potential for such integrated systems in the stationary and portable power market in response to the critical need for a cleaner energy technology. Throughout the theme several issues relating to renewable energies, environment, and sustainable development are examined from both current and future perspectives. It is concluded that green energies like wind, solar, groundsource heat pumps, and biomass must be promoted, implemented, and demonstrated from the economic and/or environmental point view. Study design: Anticipated patterns of future energy use and consequent environmental impacts (acid precipitation, ozone depletion and the greenhouse effect or global warming) are comprehensively discussed in this article. Place and Duration of Study: National Centre for Research, Energy Research Institute (ERI), between January 2011 and July 2011. Methodology: An approach is needed to integrate renewable energies in a way to meet high building performance. However, because renewable energy sources are stochastic and geographically diffuse, their ability to match demand is determined by adoption of one of the following two approaches: the utilisation of a capture area greater than that occupied by the community to be supplied, or the reduction of the community’s energy demands to a level commensurate with the locally available renewable resources. Results: The adoption of green or sustainable approaches to the way in which society is run is seen as an important strategy in finding a solution to the energy problem. The key factors to reducing and controlling CO 2, which is the major contributor to global warming, are the use of alternative approaches to energy generation and the exploration of how these alternatives are used today and may be used in the future as green energy sources. Conclusion: This global warming will eventually lead to substantial changes in the world’s climate, which will, in turn, have a major impact on human life and the built environment. Therefore, effort has to be made to reduce fossil energy use and to promote green energies, particularly in the building sector. Energy use reductions can be achieved by minimising the energy demand, by rational energy use, by recovering heat and the use of more green energies. Review Article
... The system was built around a reversible water-to-air heat pump, so that both heat injection as well as heat extraction experiments are possible [6]. The experience of the ground thermal conductivity testing is described in [7] and the comparison of design and operation of a commercial UK ground source heat pump project in [8]. The first Thermal Response Test in South America was headed by Georgiev [9]. ...
Two family houses were built in the Plovdiv region, Bulgaria. Both buildings have a
ground heat pump system, which will be used for heating in the winter and cooling in the
summer. The installation in the village Belashtitsa has a ground borehole exchanger (BHE)
consisting of six perforations made along a line. The boreholes have a depth of 50m and a
diameter of 11,2cm. The other installation (village Markovo) has a horizontal heat exchanger,
which is situated in a ditch under the ground near the house. The collector loop consisting of
polyethylene tubes is situated on two floors - at a depth of 4,25m under the ground and at a depth
of 1,8m under the ground surface. Two reversible heat pumps (MU – R407C) using refrigerant
R407C are installed in the buildings. The heat pump (unit size 41) of the Belashtitsa house has
cooling power of 11,3 kW and heating power of about 15,1 kW. The heat pump (unit size 36) of
the Markovo house has a cooling power of 9,2 kW and heating power of about 12,4 kW. This
paper aims to encourage the joint efforts of Bulgarian and international experts in the
development of this progressive technology.
Decarbonisation of heating and cooling in the built environment has been recognised as a necessity to achieve any energy and climate change targets. Heat pumps (HP) are one of the technologies that are extremely validated and utilised in the European heat decarbonisation pathways. However, many challenges and uncertainties still lie ahead of HPs in research, practices and policymaking. Practical evidence from real-world case studies could mitigate some of these uncertainties and accelerate the rollout of HPs. Hence, this research aims to present an overview of the key issues and challenges which emerge from the heat decarbonisation practices through HP technologies across the EU. Adopting the evidence-based approach, experiences from the best practices are synthesised, as well as addressing the state-of-the-art and trends of HPs in the EU. Finally, the key factors and insights which are needed to be considered over the design, implementation and operation of HPs are identified and discussed. The conclusions highlight the significant potential of HPs in consolidated solutions such as hybrid HPs, local heat synergies and heat networks. Heat pumps combined with complementary technologies are ready to serve the first wave of heat transition across Europe. However, regulatory provisions, building upgrades and development of other complementary components must be accelerated to keep pace with the HP initiatives.
The increased availability of reliable and efficient energy services stimulates new development alternatives. This article discusses the potential for such integrated systems in the stationary and portable power market in response to the critical need for a cleaner energy technology. Anticipated patterns of future energy use and consequent environmental impacts (acid precipitation, ozone depletion and the greenhouse effect or global warming) are comprehensively discussed in this chapter. Throughout the theme several issues relating to renewable energies, environment, and sustainable development are examined from both current and future perspectives. It is concluded that green energies like wind, solar, ground-source heat pumps, and biomass must be promoted, implemented, and demonstrated from the economic and/or environmental point view.
Death remains a light - hearted visitor only when its prey is a total stranger. The essence of the unprecedented output of oil production by 2020 has been denigrated by imbalance between industry and environmental interests, especially with the unconventional development. Fingerprinting of carcinogenic hydrocarbon contaminants in various environmental components in the Niger Delta revealed extensive pollution up to 6950 mgkg-1 dw soil PAHs, 186 mgkg-1 dw food crop PAHs, 171 μgkg-1 wet wt seafood PAHs (of which 120 μgkg-1 wet wt. was recorded for Indeno[1,2,3-cd]pyrene), 7420 μgl-1 surface water PAHs, 3000 μgl-1 ground water PAHs, and 48.2 μgm-3 air - suspended Benzene. Similarly, functional and structural microbial diversity studies have shown loss of species richness, type and distribution. Yet, it is expected that supply might outpace consumption in the near future; what hope does these and more environmental impacts hold for inhabitants of petroleum host communities? Experiments have also demonstrated biomagnifications even to non – residents. This bittersweet industry is therefore placed on a clarion call to make appropriately large investments in developing or supporting technologies that will reduce the environmental footprint of oil production and use, despite its predicted bearish market.
Water is one of the most important gift of nature to the living beings. Plants, animals and human cannot survive without water. The quantity of drinkable water is extremely limited. Less than 1% water is available as surface and ground waters which is suitable for our needs including drinking and cooking. Rapid industrialization and urbanization releasing a huge quantity of organic and inorganic pollutants that are affecting the quality of natural water, which cause water pollution. Hence, the level of toxic metal ions and phenols in the water is increasing day by day. Thus, its become a great challenge for the scientists, engineers and environmentalist to detect and treat waste waters for the removal and recovery of toxic metal ions and phenolic compounds. So, to treat these pollutants, novel nanocomposites materials were developed by using a number of chemical routes. The main chemical routes that were used to design nanocomposite materials corresponds to very convenient soft chemistry based routes including conventional sol–gel method. In this method, the binding of inorganic precipitate with the matrix of organic polymer (e.g. polyaniline, polythiophene, polypyrrole, polyacrylonitrile, polymethylmethacrylate, polyacrylicacid etc.) introduce composite materials of better mechanical properties. These materials have also been used in the general areas, namely chemical sensors, chromatography and fabrication of selective material, in electrical and optical applications. The continuously growing interest in the study of polyaniline based nanocomposite materials over the years is mainly because of its diverse and unique properties allowing its potential applications in various fields. Nanocomposite materials were characterized by using various instrumental techniques (e.g. FTIR, X-ray, TGA–DTA, SEM and TEM etc.). The physico-chemical properties such as ion exchangen capacity, pH titrations, chemical stability along with effect of eluent concentration and elution behavior were also carried out to exploit the ion-exchange capabilities. One of the most important applications of these nanocomposite materials is the development of membrane selective electrodes for detection of heavy metals and phenols. Conducting behavior, photocatalytic activity and antimicrobial activity of nanocomposite material was also exploited. The analytical applications of the composite materials have been explored by achieving some analytically important separations of metal ions quantitatively indicating its utility to control environmental pollution.
Geothermal energy, whether as a source of electricity or to heat or cool buildings, has an enormous potential as a renewable
energy source. This paper presents a broad overview of geothermal energy, with a focus on the emerging technologies of Enhanced
Geothermal Systems (EGS) and Ground Source Heat Pumps (GSHPs). EGS and GSHP systems are important because of their potential
for widespread use, as opposed to traditional geothermal energy systems which are generally limited to tectonically active
regions. Commercial application of EGS technology is some years off but its enormous potential demands investment for further
research. GSHP heat pump technology is available now — policy makers need to be educated and the potential of GSHPs demonstrated.
Research should focus on optimising the design of the in-ground component of GSHP systems to maximise their economic, as well
as environmental, benefits.
Keywordsgeothermal energy–enhanced geothermal systems–ground source heat pumps–electricity generation–heating–cooling
