| Geomechanics and Engineering Volume 16, Number 5, December10 2018, pages 503-512 DOI: https://doi.org/10.12989/gae.2018.16.5.503 | |
Effective modelling of borehole solar thermal energy storage systems in high latitudes
| |
Mateusz Janiszewski, Topias Siren, Lauri Uotinen, Harm Oosterbaan and Mikael Rinne
|
|
| Abstract [Buy Article] | |
| sources of energy. The storage of solar thermal energy is a crucial aspect for implementing the solar energy for space heating in high latitudes, where solar insolation is high in summer and almost negligible in winter when the domestic heating demand is high. To use the solar heating during winter thermal energy storage is required. In this paper, equations representing the single U-tube heat exchanger are implemented in weak form edge elements in COMSOL Multiphysics to speed up the calculation process for modelling of a borehole storage layout. Multiple borehole seasonal solar thermal energy storage scenarios are successfully simulated. After 5 years of operation, the most efficient simulated borehole pattern containing 168 borehole heat exchangers recovers 69% of the stored seasonal thermal energy and provides 971 MWh of thermal energy for heating in winter. | |
| Key Words | |
| solar thermal energy, borehole thermal energy storage, numerical modelling, COMSOL, weak form, rock | |
| Address | |
| Mateusz Janiszewski, Topias Siren, Lauri Uotinen, Harm Oosterbaan and Mikael Rinne: Department of Civil Engineering, School of Engineering, Aalto University, P.O. Box 12100, FI-00076 AALTO, Finland | |
