Abstract
The Drilling technology that is currently used for installation of vertical borehole heat exchangers requires capital-intensive equipment that is expensive to mobilize, leads to deteriorated working conditions and requires experienced teams of specialist operatives. Drilling operations also often require significant quantities of drinking quality water and dispose of dirty water and mud. GEOT€CH will employ a different drilling concept that is based on dry auger methods that requires less capital-intensive equipment, enhances safety and avoids the environmental risks, complexity and costs of dealing with water supplies and contaminated waste. Another key concept of GEOT€CH will be a better integration between heat exchange elements during installation by developing an innovative heat exchanger allowing to achieve high levels of thermal performance with low pressure loss. This device employs a co-axial configuration and spiral fluid flow pathways to achieve low thermal resistance compared to conventional U-tube devices. Furthermore, GEOT€CH aims to implement cost-effective geothermal systems by alleviating the costs associated with drilling boreholes in large size buildings. The GEOT€CH’s approach seeks the maximum use of the foundation structures that are otherwise required, exclusively, for structural and geotechnical purposes in tertiary buildings. Foundation structures such as piles, screen walls and basement slabs will become effective geothermal heat exchangers in GEOT€CH. GEOT€CH will develop optimized hybrid solutions that will integrate the different geothermal systems in small and large buildings market. The optimization of geothermal system operation will be achieved with the Energy Management System and the development of a dual source heat pump capable of making optimal use of ground and/or air environmental heat sources. The GEOT€CH’s geothermal heating and cooling standard will be more attractive to design professionals and construction companies.
Project details
Unibo Team Leader: Villiam Bortolotti
Unibo involved Department/s:
Dipartimento di Ingegneria Civile, Chimica, Ambientale e dei Materiali
Coordinator:
Solintel M&P Sl(Spain)
Other Participants:
ALMA MATER STUDIORUM - Università di Bologna
(Italy)
Katholieke Universiteit Leuven
(Belgium)
Groenholland Geo-Energiesystemen BV
(Netherlands)
Università degli Studi di PADOVA
(Italy)
Rina Consulting Spa
(Italy)
HiRef SpA
(Italy)
Conrad Stanen BV
(Netherlands)
Universitat Politècnica de València
(Spain)
Emte S.l.u.
(Spain)
Geothex B.V.
(Netherlands)
Fundacion Tecnalia Research & Innovation
(Spain)
Armengol & Ros Consultors i Associats, SLP
(Spain)
De Montfort University
(United Kingdom)
Stüwa Konrad Stükerjürgen GbmH
(Germany)
Total Eu Contribution: Euro (EUR) 7.136.662,88
Project Duration in months: 48
Start Date:
01/05/2015
End Date:
30/04/2019
This project contributes to the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals of the UN 2030 Agenda.
This project has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under grant agreement No 656889