 Ground
source heating and cooling (GSH&C) involves the recovery of low grade
heat from the ground or the disposal of heat into the ground, utilising
heat pumps.
There are two basic systems:
GSH&C systems can be designed
to provide less than 10KW of energy and in excess of 500KW of energy.
In all schemes there are inherent risks,
but in schemes greater than 50KW these risks could have a detrimental
impact on the short or long term viability of a project.
The fundamental science behind heat
transport in the ground, is directly analogous to groundwater flow. In
fact commonly used groundwater analysis is based on heat flow theory. The
assessment of risks associated with GSH&C is therefore an extension of
hydrogeology. This extension is often referred to as
"Thermogeology".
JDIH Envireau has specific expertise in
thermogeology in the UK, and has been instrumental in its development, by
giving specialist courses and bespoke courses to the Environment Agency. JDIH Envireau
hydrogeologists, working with specialist associates from the UK and
Norway together with installation contractors, are able to provide support
to your GSH&C project from concept development, through risk
assessment to installation and regulatory permitting.
JDIH Envireau
have produced a briefing note about
Ground Source Heating & Cooling which can be downloaded from here.
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