"Experiment, Modelling and Simulation of High-Temperature Ground Thermal Storage Systems"

蓄热系统是提高能源效率和节约能源的一项关键技术。它通常有助于减少系统中热能需求和供应之间的不匹配，提高系统的效率。因此，在建筑物、后院或前院下随时可用的地面热能储存可以在未来应对气候变化、减少化石燃料消耗和增加可再生能源利用方面发挥重要作用。这项技术还可以通过区域供热系统扩展到社区，就像阿尔伯塔省奥科托克市独一无二的德雷克着陆太阳能社区一样。在这里，自2007年以来，52户住宅80%的供暖需求都是通过回收夏季从高温（高达80°C）地面热能储存中储存的太阳能来满足的。这相当于每户每年减少约72吉焦的供暖能源（或1920立方米天然气）和3.6吨温室气体排放。为了在加拿大或世界范围内广泛使用这种技术，需要一种可靠的工具来模拟和设计一种最节能、最经济的优化系统。所提出的研究将开发出这样一种可靠、功能强大的计算机软件工具。该软件程序将具有模拟地下热水耦合运动的复杂性质的能力，从而可以实现适当的地面热能储存系统的规模-也就是说，它将能够匹配需求（例如建筑物供暖）和供应（例如来自太阳能集热器的太阳能）的热能，其典型使用寿命为30至50年或更长。为了实现这一目标，将需要实验和建模工作来验证或模拟土壤中热量和水分耦合运动、土壤导热性和地面热交换器的理论。一旦开发和验证，所有模型将被执行到一个计算机程序中，用于模拟地面热交换器系统与地面之间的热交换。该软件应该能够预测和补救任何潜在的问题，如地面干燥，这将降低系统的热性能。

A key technology in energy efficiency and conservation is a thermal energy storage system. It often helps to reduce the mismatch between demand and supply of thermal energy in a system and improves the system's efficiency. Thus, a ground thermal energy store, readily available under a building, backyard or front yard, can play an important role in the future to combat climate change, reduce fossil fuel consumption, and increase renewable energy utilization. The technology can also be extended to communities through district heating systems, as is the case at the one-of-a-kind Drake Landing Solar Community in Okotoks, Alberta. Here, since 2007 80% of residential space heating needs for 52 houses have been met by retrieving solar energy stored during the summer season from a high-temperature (up to 80°C) ground thermal energy store. The equivalent reduction is approximately 72 GJ of heating energy (or 1920 m3 of natural gas) and 3.6 tonnes of greenhouse gas emissions per home, per year. In order to widely use such technology in Canada or the world, a reliable tool is required to simulate and design an optimized system in the most energy- and cost-efficient way. The proposed research will develop such a reliable, powerful computer software tool. The software program will have the capability to simulate the complex nature of coupled heat and water movement in the ground, such that an appropriate sizing of a ground thermal energy storage system can be achieved - that is, it will be able to match the demand (e.g., heating for buildings) and supply (e.g., solar energy from solar collectors) of thermal energy over a typical service life of 30 to 50 years or longer. To meet this objective, experiment and modelling work will be required to validate or model the theory of coupled heat and moisture movement in soils, soil thermal conductivity and ground heat exchangers. Once developed and validated, all the models will be implemented into a computer program for modelling the heat exchange between a ground heat exchanger system and the ground. The software should be able to predict and remedy any potential problems, such as dry out of ground, which would degrade the thermal performance of the system.