SBIR Phase II: Innovative Advection-Enhanced Geothermal Heat Pump Fieldloop Demonstration

这个小型企业创新研究（SBIR）第二阶段项目的更广泛的影响/商业潜力集中在与传统供暖、通风和制冷（HVAC）方法相关的高成本和温室气体（GHG）排放。暖通空调约占建筑能耗的48%，这对社会来说是一个巨大的成本。这些能源大部分是由化石燃料产生的，对环境造成了重大影响：与住宅和商业用途相关的碳排放量占美国总排放量的35.6%。 地源热泵（GSHPs）代表了目前可用的最节能和最环保的HVAC解决方案，然而，其高昂的前期资本成本显着减缓了其部署。本项目的创新采用了一种完全不同的地源热泵传热方法，与传统地源热泵系统相比，安装成本降低了50%，运营成本降低了20%，从而扩大了地热市场。目前的项目旨在彻底的现场测试和分析地源热泵创新的性能，优化制造和安装参数，并为商业部署做好准备。这个SBIR二期项目提出解决传统地源热泵系统的高安装成本和大的破坏性占地面积。该项目的目标是展示一种紧凑、经济、易于部署、可再生的HVAC解决方案。平流驱动的地源热泵（AGHP）利用水的热容比岩石大4-5倍。在本项目下，AGHP将超越数值和实验室分析，在现实世界条件下进行制造和现场测试性能。研究目标包括：1）油田现场的最终确定，2）用于所选油田现场的AGHP系统的初步设计和数值建模; 3）工程改造设计; 4）定制设计的潜水泵和热交换器的制造; 5）AGHP系统的安装和测试; 6）运行、监测和分析AGHP系统的性能，包括制定综合成本、能源使用、和AGHP系统的排放模型;和7）使用汇编的数据，以估计潜在的AGHP在美国各地区的经济可行性。该项目的预期成果是一个商业化的地源热泵产品，其设计和安装指南用于确定在任何特定位置部署创新AGHP系统的潜力。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并被认为值得通过使用基金会的知识价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估来支持。

The broader impact/commercial potential of this Small Business Innovative Research (SBIR) Phase II project focuses on the high costs and greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions associated with conventional heating, ventilation, and cooling (HVAC) methods. HVAC constitutes approximately 48% of building energy consumption representing a significant cost to society. Much of this energy is generated by fossil fuels, resulting in substantial environmental impacts: carbon emissions associated with residential and commercial use are 35.6% of total US emissions. Geothermal or ground source heat pumps (GSHPs) represent the most energy-efficient and environmentally-friendly HVAC solution currently available, however, their high upfront capital costs have significantly slowed their deployment. The innovation in the present project takes a fundamentally different approach to GSHP heat transfer, resulting in reductions of 50% in installation costs and 20% in operating costs compared to conventional GSHP systems, enabling an expansion of the geothermal market. The present project seeks to thoroughly field test and analyze the performance of the GSHP innovation, optimizing the fabrication and installation parameters, and readying it for commercial deployment.This SBIR Phase II project proposes to address the high installation cost and large, disruptive footprint of conventional GSHP systems. The project objective is to demonstrate a compact, cost-effective, easily-deployable, renewable solution for HVAC. The advection-driven GSHP (AGHP) takes advantage of the 4-5 times greater heat capacity of water than rock. Under the present project, AGHP will advance beyond numerical and laboratory analyses to manufacturing and field testing performance under real-world conditions. The research objectives include: 1) finalization of field site, 2) preliminary design and numerical modeling of the AGHP system for a chosen field site; 3) engineering retrofit design; 4) fabrication of the custom designed submersible pump and heat exchanger; 5) installation and testing of the AGHP system; 6) operation, monitoring, and analysis of the performance of AGHP system, including the development of a comprehensive cost, energy use, and emissions model for the AGHP system; and 7) use of the compiled data to estimate the potential for the economic viability of AGHP in various regions of the United States. The anticipated result of this project is a commercially-ready GSHP product with design and installation guidelines for determining the potential for deploying the innovative AGHP system at any given location.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.