Claims:WHAT IS CLAIMED IS:

1. A method to estimate a geoexchange system design components, said method comprising:
initializing an estimation module (106) by a user (102) through an electronic device (104);

acquiring geosystem information related to a profile, utility rates, traditional system data, ground thermal data, ground hydrological data, geophysical data, weather data or like, into a querying and result module (106A), wherein the acquired information is provided by the user (102);

sending the acquired geosystem information to a calculation module (106B);

calculating a design component requirements from the acquired geosystem information in the calculation module (106B);

generating a complete estimated data on the geoexchange system design components; and

iterating calculation of the design component requirements in the calculation module (106B) until an accurate complete estimated data on the geoexchange system design components is achieved.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising:
acquiring a geosystem information related to equipment performance from a qualified equipment performance database (110);

deciding based on the acquired geosystem information, the estimated components required in the geoexchange system design, wherein the decision is taken in a decision module (106C); and

displaying the complete estimation on the geoexchange system design components in a display unit of the electronic device (104).

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the calculation module (106B) calculates ground thermal capacity from data obtained by solving a second degree differential equation for heat transfer by conduction.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the calculation module (106B) calculates discharge capacity of ground or earth from hydrological information.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the calculation module (106B) calculates approach temperature based on total flow and recirculation flow.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein the calculation module (106B) calculates energy, water savings, quantities, costs, etc.

7. A system to estimate a geoexchange system design components, said system (100) comprising:
an estimation module (106) which is initialized by a user (102) through an electronic device (104);

a querying and result module (106A) which acquires geosystem information related to a profile, utility rates, traditional system data, ground thermal data, ground hydrological data, geophysical data, weather data or like, wherein the acquired information is provided by the user (102);
a calculation module (106B) which receives the acquired geosystem information, wherein the calculation module (106B) calculates a design component requirements from the acquired geosystem information and generates a complete estimated data on the geoexchange system design components; and

a display unit of the electronic device (104), displays an accurate complete estimated data on the geoexchange system design components.

8. The system (100) of claim 7 further comprising:
a qualified equipment performance database (110) which stores a geosystem information related to equipment performance; and

a decision module (106C) decides based on the acquired geosystem information, the estimated components required in the geoexchange system design and displays the complete estimation on the geoexchange system design components in the display unit of the electronic device (104).

9. The system of claim 7, wherein the calculation module (106B) calculates ground thermal capacity from data obtained by solving a second degree differential equation for heat transfer by conduction.
10. The system of claim 7, wherein the estimation module (106) may be stored in the electronic device (104) or a remote database (110). , Description:BACKGROUND
Technical Field

The embodiments herein generally relate to a geoexchange system and more particularly, to a methods and systems to estimate geoexchange system design components.

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.

Geoexchange projects are typically needs customization all the time for each site separately. The customization adds to execution difficlties, as the site intervention increasing and in turn increases risk of quality breach and risk of delays in setting up a geoexchange site. Also there materials required for the geoexchange site needs to be evaluated everytime depending on the site requirements. In many case, geoexchange closed loop advective system design could be complex.

Accordingly, there remains a need for a system that could ease the geoexchange closed loop advective system design with very few inputs that are obtained through a primary in-situ survey. The method should not only provide design parameters for number of wells, size of pipes, size of pumps and size of electrical components, but also should provide detailed bill of material, a detailed cost estimation and automatic generation of a geoexchange closed loop advective system proposal.

SUMMARY

The embodiment herein provides a method to estimate a geoexchange system design components. The said method includes initializing an estimation module by a user through an electronic device, acquiring geosystem information related to a profile, utility rates, traditional system data, ground thermal data, ground hydrological data, geophysical data, weather data or like, into a querying and result module, wherein the acquired information is provided by the user, sending the acquired geosystem information to a calculation module, calculating a design component requirements from the acquired geosystem information in the calculation module, generating a complete estimated data on the geoexchange system design components, and iterating calculation of the design component requirements in the calculation module until an accurate complete estimated data on the geoexchange system design components may be achieved.

In one embodiment, the method further includes acquiring a geosystem information related to equipment performance from a qualified equipment performance database, deciding based on the acquired geosystem information, the estimated components required in the geoexchange system design, wherein the decision is taken in a decision module, and displaying the complete estimation on the geoexchange system design components in a display unit of the electronic device.

In an embodiment, the calculation module may calculate ground thermal capacity from data obtained by solving a second degree differential equation for heat transfer by conduction. The calculation module may also calculate discharge capacity of ground or earth from hydrological information.

In an embodiment, the calculation module may calculate approach temperature based on total flow and recirculation flow. In one example embodiment, the calculation module may calculate energy, water savings, quantities, costs, etc.

In an embodiment, a system to estimate a geoexchange system design components may be provided. The system may include an estimation module which may be initialized by a user through an electronic device, a querying and result module which acquires geosystem information related to a profile, utility rates, traditional system data, ground thermal data, ground hydrological data, geophysical data, weather data or like, wherein the acquired information is provided by the user, a calculation module which receives the acquired geosystem information, wherein the calculation module calculates a design component requirements from the acquired geosystem information and generates a complete estimated data on the geoexchange system design components, and a display unit of the electronic device which displays an accurate complete estimated data on the geoexchange system design components.

In an embodiment, the system further includes a qualified equipment performance database which may store a geosystem information related to equipment performance; and a decision module which may decide based on the acquired geosystem information, the estimated components required in the geoexchange system design and displays the complete estimation on the geoexchange system design components in the display unit of the electronic device.

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 system to estimate a geoexchange system design components according to an embodiment mentioned herein.
FIG. 2 illustrates an exploded view of geoexchange system estimation module according to an embodiment mentioned herein.

FIG. 3 illustrates a method to estimate a geoexchange system design components 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 a system that could ease the geoexchange closed loop advective system design with very few inputs that are obtained through a primary in-situ survey. The method should not only provide design parameters for number of wells, size of pipes, size of pumps and size of electrical components, but also should provide detailed bill of material, a detailed cost estimation and automatic generation of a geoexchange closed loop advective system proposal.

The present embodiments herein provide such a methods and systems which estimates geoexchange system design components. The solution includes manufacturing of majority of the geoexchange system in the factory set up. 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 system 100 to estimate a geoexchange system design components according to an embodiment mentioned herein. The system 100 includes a user 102, electronic device 104 and an estimation module 106. The estimation module 106 may be initialized by the user 102 through the electronic device 104.

In an embodiment, the system 100 further includes a qualified equipment performance database 110 which stores geosystem information related to equipment performance and a network 108. In one embodiment, the database 110 may be remote server. The remote server may store the estimation module 106. In one embodiment, the estimation module 106 may be stored in the electronic device 104.

FIG. 2 illustrates an exploded view of the geoexchange system estimation module 106 according to an embodiment mentioned herein. The estimation module 106 includes a querying and result module 106A, a calculation module 106B, and a decision module 106C. In an embodiment, the querying and result module 106A may acquire geosystem information.

In an embodiment, the geosystem information may be related to a profile, utility rates, traditional system data, ground thermal data, ground hydrological data, geophysical data, weather data or like but not limited to embodiments mentioned herein. Ina ne embodiment, the calculation module 106B may receive the acquired geosystem information.

In one embodiment, the calculation module 106B may calculate a design component requirement from the acquired geosystem information and generates a complete estimated data on the geoexchange system design components. The decision module 106C may decide the estimated components required in the geoexchange system design based on the acquired geosystem information. In an embodiment, the display unit (not shown in the Fig) of the electronic device 104 displays an accurate complete estimated data on the geoexchange system design components.

In an embodiment, the system 100 may further include a qualified equipment performance database 110 which may store geosystem information related to equipment performance. In an embodiment, the calculation module 106B may calculate ground thermal capacity from data obtained by solving a second degree differential equation for heat transfer by conduction.

In one embodiment, the calculation module 106B may calculate discharge capacity of ground or earth from hydrological information. In another embodiment, the calculation module 106B may calculate approach temperature based on total flow and recirculation flow. In yet another embodiment, the calculation module 106B may calculate energy, water savings, quantities, costs, etc. The estimation module 106 may be stored in the electronic device 104 or a remote database 110.

FIG. 3 illustrates a method to estimate a geoexchange system design components according to an embodiment mentioned herein. The method herein includes in step 302, an estimation module 106 may be initialized by the user 102 through the electronic device 104. In step 304, a geosystem related information may be acquired by the querying and result module 106A.

In step 306, the acquired geosystem information may be sent to the calculation module 106B. In step 308, design component requirements from the acquired geosystem information may be calculated in the calculation module 106. In step 310, an accurate complete estimated data on the geoexchange system design components may be generated.

In an embodiment, the method further includes acquiring geosystem information related to equipment performance from a qualified equipment performance database 110, deciding based on the acquired geosystem information, the estimated components required in the geoexchange system design, wherein the decision is taken in a decision module 106C and displaying the complete estimation on the geoexchange system design components through a display unit of the electronic device 104.

In an embodiment, the system 100 may automate geoexchange closed loop advective system design with only few inputs required through a primary on-site survey. In an advantageous embodiment, the system 100 may not only provide number of wells, size of pipes, size of pumps and size of electrical components, but also provide a detailed bill of material, a detailed cost estimation and automatic generation of a geoexchange closed loop advective system proposal.

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.