Evaluation of the energy efficiency of preheating ventilation air with geothermal heat

This master thesis examines the energy efficiency of preheating outdoor air in ventilation systems by using geothermal heat from boreholes. Energy efficiency in this context only relates to minimise the energy consumption and to minimise the peak power consumption during cold days. Preheating the outdoor air before it enters the heat exchanger is a techinque that is used to avoid frost formation in the heat exhanger. The aim of preheating the outdoor air is to reduce the energy consumption in the buidling and to reduce the peak power consumption during cold days. In this project a buliding in Töfsingdalen, Stockholm, is investigated. In one part of the building the outdoor air is preheated while the air in another part of the building is not. The investigation is partly based on an analysis of measured temperaures in the building’s ventilation system during 2017. The results of the analysis show that the heat exchanger in the air-handling unit with preheating has not been defrosted during the investigated period. In this thesis, models are also constructed to simulate the system. The models are created in the simulation programme IDA ICE, wich is a simulation tool for bulidings. The simulations show that the total energy consumption is 1.2 kWh/m2Atemp, year higher and the maximal power consumption is 18 kW lower for the system that preheats the outdoor air compared to the system without preheating. In addition to this, the conclusion of this report is that the energy efficiency of preheating the outdoor air depends on the type of heat exchanger. A heat exchanger with high efficiency results in a lower peak power consumption than a heat exchanger wth a lower efficiency. Futhermore, the results show that geothermal preheating is better from an energy perspective when heat exchangers with moderate as opposed to high efficiencies are used. The energy efficiency of preheating outdoor air in ventilation systems also depends on the outdoor climate and the control strategy of the preheating. In this report, the control strategy for the preheating system in Töfsingdalen has been optimised in order to reduce the energy consumption in the building