Claims:WHAT IS CLAIMED IS:

1. A geoexchange system (100) comprising:

a closed loop piping (A) carrying cold and warm water, wherein the closed loop piping (A) at one end is connected to a heat exchanger (B) and other end is connected to an over ground processing system (H);

a fountain tube (C) with atleast one open end creating a fountain which dissipates warm water gathered from the closed loop piping (A), wherein the fountain tube (C) at the open end is positioned between highest level water body below highest static water level and lowest static water level; and

a submersible pump (D) located below a bottom level flowing water body (E), wherein the submersible pump (D) passes water at ground temperature from lowest ground water source to the fountain tube (C) through the heat exchanger (B) in order to push warm water towards the open end of the fountain tube (C), dissipating warm water at higher water level.

2. The system of claim 1, wherein the closed loop piping (A) comprises a water inlet (F) to carry cold water into the over ground processing system (H) from the heat exchanger (B) and a water outlet (G) to carry warm water from the over ground processing system (H) into the heat exchanger (B).

3. The system of claim 1, wherein the fountain tube (C) having a flow rate is a function of water flux available in the bottom level flowing water body (E).

4. The system of claim 3, wherein the flow rate of the fountain tube (C) is typically 20-30% of the yield of the bottom level water source (E).

5. The system of claim 1, wherein the closed loop piping (A) having a flow rate is a function of the flow rate in the fountain tube (C).

6. The system of claim 1, wherein the closed loop piping (A), the heat exchanger (B), the fountain tube (C) and the submersible pump (D) is located inside a bore well or tube well (K) and below a ground level (I).

7. The system of claim 1, wherein the heat exchanger (B) regulates the flow rate in the closed loop piping (A).

8. The system of claim 1, wherein the over ground processing system (H) is a refrigeration system or like.

9. The system of claim 1, wherein the flow of water in the closed loop piping (A) is configured such that temperature difference between the water inlet (F) and the water outlet (G) is equal to a temperature difference desirable across the processing system (H).

10. The system of claim 9, the temperature difference across the processing system (H) is in the range 4 to 5 ºC.
, Description:BACKGROUND
Technical Field

The embodiments herein generally relate to geoexchange systems and more particularly, to geoexchange systems having closed loop advective design for high Undisturbed Ground Temperature (UGT) cooling dominated regions.

Description of the Related Art

A typical geoexchange heating and cooling system uses the consistent temperature of the earth to provide heating, cooling, and hot water for both residential and commercial buildings. Here, water is circulated through polyethylene pipes in closed loops that are installed at a minimum of 5 feet below the earth's surface. These loops can be buried vertically or horizontally in the ground, or submersed in a pond. The loops are connected to an extended-range water source heat pump installed in your home or commercial property.

When heating the home or hot water, heat is extracted from the earth into the water circulating in the loop. This heat is used by the heat exchanger and compressor in the water source heat pump to warm the air and provide hot water. Cold air or chilled water is provided as a result of transferring heat from the conditioned space and rejecting it into the earth. In size, a water source heat pump is similar to a standard furnace. A complete geoexchange system, consisting of the water source heat pump, the loop, and a standard duct system for delivery of hot or cold air, provides all the heating, cooling, and hot water needed for your home in one integrated system.

Geoexchange systems work well in any climate zone, from Pacific coastal regions to the Sierra Mountains, and all areas in between. Used as early as the 1920s in Europe, geoexchange systems have been installed throughout North America for the last 30 years. The EPA lists geoexchange systems as the most environmentally friendly and efficient systems available today. Air-conditioning or process cooling accounts for more than 65% of the electricity bills in most of the buildings (commercial, industrial and residential). The Indian air-conditioning/process cooling market is growing at fast pace in view of the exponential growth in the new construction market. With special emphasis on smart cities, the industry is actively exploring adoption of clean technologies that would reduce substantial pressure on India’s energy and water resources.

Commercial buildings that are centrally air-conditioned use an air-cooled or water-cooled heat exchanger to extract heat from the building out to the ambient environment. The efficiencies of these traditional air conditioning systems depend on the seasonal variations in the wet bulb (water cooled using cooling towers) and dry bulb (air cooled condensers) temperatures. Higher the ambient temperatures, lower is the efficiency of the traditional systems and vice versa.

While geothermal heat exchange continues to be common in the cold countries like the US or most parts of Europe for heating purposes, the use of the technology in tropical climates has had multiple knowledge and technology barriers. The conventional air-conditioning systems use either an air-cooled condenser or a cooling tower to reject building heat in the atmosphere. Systems that use air-cooled condensers are called air-cooled systems and systems that use cooling towers are called water-cooled systems. Just how water-cooled engines (car engine) are efficient than air-cooled engines (motor bike engine), water-cooled air-conditioning systems are more efficient than air-cooled air-conditioning systems. That said; both conventional air-cooled and water-cooled systems have their own drawbacks such as high energy consumption, high water consumption, use of hazardous cleaning chemicals, lesser life, high maintenance, higher space requirements, high noise levels, etc.

The traditional geoexchange designs with closed loop HDPE piping system depend on conductive heat transfer by the ground formation. The conduction heat transfer becomes ineffective with lower or no temperature difference between undisturbed ground temperature and the temperature desirable at the heat transfer process such as inlet of a condenser in a refrigeration system. With low or no temperature difference, even if a ground formation has comparatively higher thermal conductivity and high volumetric heat capacity, the conduction heat transfer could be as low as zero.

Another solution includes a production and diffusion well system. This solution demands typically 100-200% higher pumping power. The higher pumping requires longer cables, variable speed drives and electrical panels. The solution also requires typically 2 to 3 times more drilling and 3 to 4 times more underground piping and trenching. The solution in most cases could prove commercially unviable.

Another solution includes standing column wells system, which depends majorly on conductive heat transfer and minimally on advective heat transfer. The un-viability of conduction heat transfer in regions with either low or no difference between the ground temperature and the temperature desirable at the process makes the solution unviable.

One more solution includes a combination of production and diffusion well system and standing column wells system. This solution needs more bill of material with higher pumping capacity, more cabling, extra piping and trenching, making the combination solution commercially unviable in most of the cases. Therefore, with the above limitations, conduction heat transfer design and other designs can’t be used in hot climates like tropical climates.

Accordingly, there remains a need for geothermal cooling strategies for cooling dominated tropical climates such as India which overcomes all above mentioned barriers. The above drawbacks should be overcome with a geothermal system which utilizes close loop piping system that does not lose water, or does not require chemical cleaning and with lower ground temperatures save significant energy.

SUMMARY

The embodiment herein provides a geoexchange system with a closed loop advective design for high Undisturbed Ground Temperature (UGT) cooling dominated regions. The geoexchange system includes a closed loop piping carrying cold and warm water, wherein the closed loop piping at one end is connected to a heat exchanger and other end is connected to an over ground processing system, a fountain tube with one open end creating a fountain which dissipates warm water gathered from the closed loop piping, wherein the fountain tube is positioned between highest level water body below highest static water level and lowest static water level and a submersible pump located below a bottom level flowing water body, wherein the submersible pump passes water at ground temperature from lowest ground water source to the fountain tube through the heat exchanger in order to push warm water towards the open end of the fountain tube, dissipating warm water at higher water level.

In an embodiment, the closed loop piping includes a water inlet to carry cold water into the over ground processing system from the heat exchanger and a water outlet to carry warm water from the over ground processing system into the heat exchanger.

In one embodiment, the fountain tube having a flow rate may be a function of water flux available in the bottom level flowing water body. In another embodiment, the flow rate of the fountain tube may be typically 20-30% of the yield of the bottom level water source.

In yet another embodiment, the closed loop piping with a flow rate is a function of the flow rate in the fountain tube.

In an example embodiment, the closed loop piping, the heat exchanger, the fountain tube and the submersible pump may be located inside a bore well or tube well and below a ground level. In an embodiment, the heat exchanger may regulate the flow rate in the closed loop piping. In an embodiment, the over ground processing system may be a refrigeration system or like.

The flow of water in the closed loop piping may be configured such that temperature difference between the water inlet and the water outlet is equal to a temperature difference desirable across the processing system. In an embodiment, the temperature difference across the processing system may be in the range 4 to 5 ºC.

These and other aspects of the embodiments herein will be better appreciated and understood when considered in conjunction with the following description and the accompanying drawings. It should be understood, however, that the following descriptions, while indicating preferred embodiments and numerous specific details thereof, are given by way of illustration and not of limitation. Many changes and modifications may be made within the scope of the embodiments herein without departing from the spirit thereof, and the embodiments herein include all such modifications.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The embodiments herein will be better understood from the following detailed description with reference to the drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 illustrates a geoexchange system having closed loop advective design for high Undisturbed Ground Temperature (UGT) cooling dominated regions according to an embodiment mentioned herein.

Persons skilled in the art will appreciate that elements in the figures are illustrated for simplicity and clarity and may have not been drawn to scale. For example, the dimensions of some of the elements in the figure may be exaggerated relative to other elements to help to improve understanding of various exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure.

Throughout the drawings, it should be noted that like reference numbers are used to depict the same or similar elements, features, and structures.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

As mentioned, there remains a need for geothermal cooling strategies for cooling dominated tropical climates such as India which overcomes all above mentioned barriers. The above drawbacks should be overcome with a geothermal system which utilizes close loop piping system that does not lose water, or does not require chemical cleaning and with lower ground temperatures save significant energy.

The present embodiments herein provide a geoexchange system having closed loop advective design for high Undisturbed Ground Temperature (UGT) cooling dominated regions. The above drawbacks are overcome with a geothermal system mentioned herein which utilizes close loop piping system that does not lose water, does not need chemical cleaning and with lower ground temperatures saves energy. Referring now to the figures, more particularly to FIG. 1, where similar reference characters denote corresponding features consistently throughout the figures, preferred embodiments are shown.

FIG. 1 illustrates a geoexchange system 100 having closed loop advective design for high Undisturbed Ground Temperature (UGT) cooling dominated regions according to an embodiment mentioned herein. The geoexchange system 100 includes a closed loop piping A carrying cold and warm water, a fountain tube C with one open end creating a fountain which dissipates warm water gathered from the closed loop piping A, and a submersible pump D located below a bottom level flowing water body E.

In an embodiment, the closed loop piping A at one end may be connected to a heat exchanger B. The other end may be connected to an over ground processing system H. In an embodiment, the fountain tube C may be positioned between highest level water body below highest static water level and lowest static water level.

In one embodiment, the submersible pump D may pass water at ground temperature from lowest ground water source to the fountain tube C through the heat exchanger B in order to push warm water towards the open end of the fountain tube C, thereby dissipating warm water at higher water level.

In an embodiment, the closed loop piping A includes a water inlet F and a water outlet G. The water inlet F may carry cold water into the over ground processing system H from the heat exchanger B. The water outlet G may carry warm water from the over ground processing system H into the heat exchanger B. In an embodiment, the flow rate of water in the closed loop piping A may be a function of capacity of the heat exchanger B, which in turn may be a function of flow rate of water in the fountain tube C.

In one example embodiment, the flow rate of water in the closed loop piping A may be planned in such a manner that temperature difference between the water inlet F and the water outlet G is equal to temperature difference desirable across the over ground processing system H. The temperature difference across the processing system H may be typically in the range 4 to 5 ºC.

In an embodiment, the over ground process H may give heat to the closed loop piping A at the water outlet G. The water in the loop A may flow through the underground heat exchanger B. The water in the loop A may also pass the heat to another stream of water in the fountain tube C through the heat exchanger B.

In an embodiment, the fountain tube C may be connected to the submersible pump D. The submersible pump D may be located below the bottom level flowing water body E. In an embodiment, the top of the fountain tube C may be placed between the highest level water body below lowest static water level and lowest static water level.

In an example embodiment, the fountain tube C may receive ground water at ground temperature. The water in the fountain tube C acquires heat from the heat exchanger B and discharges the warm water at the top of the tube C like a fountain. The warm water floats at the top and exit the well from the higher level water bodies. The system 100 design may be carried out to ensure that the pressure drop of the warm water flow from higher level water body to bottom level water body may be higher than the pressure of the water in the higher level water body.

In one embodiment, the flow rate of water in the fountain tube C may be a function of water flux available in the bottom level aquifer E. In another embodiment, the flow rate in the fountain tube C may be typically 20-30% of the yield of the bottom level water source E.

In an embodiment, the present disclosure makes use of underground water movement with definite direction of flow and reasonable groundwater flux. The underground water acts as a vehicle of heat. The heat may be transferred to the underground water in the downstream so that the water laden with heat flows away from the control area to never return back near the system 100. The flown away water, during natural movement, taps into far field areas to dissipate or give away the heat and regain the temperature equal to the surrounding undisturbed ground temperature.

In an advantages embodiment, the present disclosure provides a combination of the closed loop system and an advective heat transfer. In traditional designs, the closed loop system is associated only with the conductive heat transfer. The present disclosure uses the closed loop design with benefits of the advective heat transfer. The present system 100 uses advantages of the closed loop system of low pumping and non-dependence on ground water levels and advantages of open loop system of efficient convective and advective heat transfer. The cost of the typical geoexchange system by making use or integrating the techniques disclosed herein, may be 50-60% lower than the cost of the open loop systems and 70-80% lower than the cost of the closed loop systems applied in regions with low or no difference between the ground temperature and the temperature desirable at the process H.

In yet another advantageous embodiment, the present disclosure provides minimal pumping requirement as the system 100 is of the closed loop nature. The other advantageous embodiment being the submersible pump D doesn’t face any static head. The submersible pump D is only a sum of pressure drop in the fountain pipe C and the heat exchanger B. One variation to the present system 100 design may be that the submersible pumps D could be powered by solar panels.

The foregoing description of the specific embodiments will so fully reveal the general nature of the embodiments herein that others can, by applying current knowledge, readily modify and/or adapt for various applications such specific embodiments without departing from the generic concept, and, therefore, such adaptations and modifications should and are intended to be comprehended within the meaning and range of equivalents of the disclosed embodiments. It is to be understood that the phraseology or terminology employed herein is for the purpose of description and not of limitation. Therefore, while the embodiments herein have been described in terms of preferred embodiments, those skilled in the art will recognize that the embodiments herein can be practiced with modification within the spirit and scope.