Coupling Heat Transfer in Heat Pipe Arrays with Subsurface Porous Media Flow for Long Time Predictions of Solar Rechargeable Geothermal Systems

P. Oberdorfer[1], R. Hu[1], M. Azizur Rahman[1], E. Holzbecher[1], M. Sauter[1], P. Pärisch[2]
[1]Applied Geology, Geoscience Centre, University of Göttingen, Göttingen, Germany
[2]Institute for Solar Energy Research Hameln/Emmerthal (ISFH), Emmerthal, Germany
Published in 2012

An increased share of renewable energies is regarded as an integral part of a strategy towards a sustainable future. With regard to the heat supply sector this may be achieved using solar thermal collectors or heat pump systems with borehole heat exchangers. During the last years solar thermal and geothermal systems have generally been installed separately. Now, several proposals are discussed in which the two technologies are combined as both can benefit from each other. The EFRE project Geo-Solar-WP (high-efficient heat pump systems with geothermal and solar thermal energy sources) handles the different aspects of such coupled thermal systems. This part of the project focuses on combined transport processes of heat and groundwater in the subsurface.