Analysis of the thermal performance of a water storage cell with helical shaped pipe for ground source heat pumps

Ground Source Heat Pumps are promising technologies that can contribute to decarbonize the space heating and cooling in buildings. In this work, a particular ground heat exchanger for residential buildings is studied via numerical models. The system consists of a helical heat exchanger immersed in a water tank (cell) buried into the ground. A sensitivity analysis on the main parameters was carried out investigating the effect on the thermal behaviour. The system was also simulated through a numerical model named CaRM (Capacity Resistance Model), modified for these analyses. Simulation results show that the water volume, the installation depth and the ground thermal conductivity, can improve the thermal behaviour; on the contrary, pipe configuration and tank material do not affect the behaviour of the system.