Techno-economic evaluation of multiple energy piles for a ground-coupled heat pump system

Cui, Yuanlong; Zhu, Jie; Meng, Fanran

Abstract

A technical and economic feasibility study of multiple energy piles (EPs) for a ground-coupled heat pump (GCHP) system is presented in this paper. The GCHP system energy performance and life-cycle cost (LCC) are evaluated, it is found that the system energy output (heating and cooling) could meet a domestic building comfortable environment requirement with the annual average COP of 3.63 and EER of 4.62. The LCC evaluation indicates that the system net present value (NPV) is approximately £26,095 at the market discount rate of 8.75% for a 20-year operating period. Moreover, the payback period of the GCHP system is approximately 4.31 years, which is sensitive to the main parameters including electricity price, capital investment and energy generation. Furthermore, the low discount rate and high energy generation are beneficial to the GCHP system with the high NPV and cash flows. The capital price of the system should be regulated to a lower level for the larger market potential.

Citation

Cui, Y., Zhu, J., & Meng, F. (2018). Techno-economic evaluation of multiple energy piles for a ground-coupled heat pump system. Energy Conversion and Management, 178, 200-216. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.enconman.2018.10.042

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Acceptance Date: Oct 14, 2018
• Online Publication Date: Oct 17, 2018
• Publication Date: Dec 15, 2018
• Deposit Date: Oct 16, 2018
• Publicly Available Date: Oct 18, 2019
• Journal: Energy Conversion and Management
• Print ISSN: 0196-8904
• Publisher: Elsevier
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 178
• Pages: 200-216
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.enconman.2018.10.042
• Keywords: Ground-coupled heat pump; Energy pile; System performance; Life-cycle cost; Net present value; Payback period
• Public URL: https://nottingham-repository.worktribe.com/output/1167472
• Publisher URL: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0196890418311440
• Additional Information: This article is maintained by: Elsevier; Article Title: Techno-economic evaluation of multiple energy piles for a ground-coupled heat pump system; Journal Title: Energy Conversion and Management; CrossRef DOI link to publisher maintained version: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.enconman.2018.10.042; Content Type: article; Copyright: © 2018 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.