Laboratory Experiment and Numerical Modeling of Co-axial Heat Exchanger

Abstract

Laboratory experiments of co-axial heat exchangers were carried out in a sand layer. The experiments were intended to investigate characteristics of heat exchange performance under various groundwater flow conditions. Results of laboratory experiments showed that heat exchange rates increase with the increase of groundwater velocity.
A three-dimensional numerical model considering advection effect of groundwater flow was developed. The model was verified with the experiment results.
Finally, the relationship between apparent thermal conductivity and groundwater velocity was estimated by the developed numerical model in a field scale. The relationship showed that the apparent thermal conductivity increases with the increase of groundwater velocity.