Design of an Experimental Facility for Hybrid Ground Source Heat Pump Systems

This study reports on the development and commissioning of an experimental facility to test and validate hybrid ground-source heat pump models in hourly building energy simulation programs such as EnergyPlus and HVACSim+. Validation of simulation models over long time periods will allow researchers to ensure that simulation results accurately model true system performance. After validation, design engineers can use these programs to improve future system designs to reduce first and operating costs. A well instrumented experimental facility for hybrid ground source heat pump system research was designed, built and tested. Experiments performed in the completed facility determined that heat balance and heat transfer rates were within an acceptable range as calculated by the uncertainty analysis. The performance of the system met the requirements specified for the system design. Transient effects were found to account for a significant portion of the cycle time on all components. A circulation pump model was also developed and validated to give future researchers a tool to estimate the main circulation pump power input which can be used as an input into a simulation. Future research is required to determine the simulation error that results from transient effects in the system.Mechanical & Aerospace Engineerin