Division of Engineering Technology
Heat Pump Project
Analysis of the ground source heat pump system at the Oklahoma State Capitol was made to determine its thermal performance. Occupant satisfaction, energy conservation gains, and other benefits were determined.
Sponsor: Oklahoma Alliance for Public Policy Research
PI: James Bose
Non-Toxic Antifreeze in Ground-Source Heat Pump
This is a study of the use of potassium acetate as an antifreeze solution for use with ground source heat pump systems. The corrosion effects on commonly found materials in a ground source heat pump was studied. Potassium acetate is a non-toxic antifreeze fluid that has significant environmental benefits when compared to other available antifreeze solutions.
Sponsor: Electric Power Research Institute
PI: James Bose
RAs: Eric Price, Randy Perry, Don Adams, and Jack Bayles
Ground Coil Manual Development
A circular ground heat exchanger was analyzed to determine its thermal performance in a geothermal heat pump system. Experimental studies were performed on six different configurations. The new design is expected to cut the installed cost of a ground heat exchanger by 30%.
Sponsors: Electric Power Research Institute and National Rural Electric Cooperative Association
PIs: James Bose and Marvin Smith
RAs: Fred Jones and Randy Perry
CL/GS Manual Rewrite
A revision of the National Rural Electric Cooperative Association "Closed-Loop/Ground Source Heat Pump Systems: Installation Guide" is to be made. New topics are to include commercial buildings, slinky ground heat exchangers, and new antifreeze solutions. More than 25,000 copies of the first edition were sold.
Sponsors: National Rural Electric Cooperative Association and Electric Power Research Institute
PIs: James Bose and Marvin Smith
Jeff Spitler (Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering)
RAs: Chris Marshal, Fred Jones, and Randy Perry
Heat Exchanger Tests
A circular ground heat exchanger was analyzed to determine its thermal performance in a geothermal heat pump system. Experimental studies were performed on six different configurations. The new design is expected to cut the installed cost of a ground heat exchanger by 30%.
Sponsor: National Rural Electric Cooperative Association
PIs: James Bose, Marvin Smith, Fred Jones, and Randy Perry
Heating and Cooling Teleconferences
Three national teleconferences aimed at an audience that supports installation of ground source heat pumps was produced and aired by the OSU Educational Television Services. Over 300 downsites were identified with over 15,000 viewers.
Sponsors: U.S. Department of Energy, Electric Power Research Institute, International Ground Source Heat Pump Association, National Rural Electric Cooperative Association, and others
PIs: James Bose, Fred Jones, and James Netherton
EPA Well-Plugging Experiments
A system was developed to simulate building mud cake in a borehole, plugging the well, and injecting salt water in a nearby well, with noncomitant migration of saltwater into the plugged well. The system "duplicates" reservoir pressures, mud pressures, and reservoir-formation characteristics that develop while mud cake is built, as in drilling a well. Saltwater injection is simulated to monitor any fluid migration through the reservoir. A 2100-foot well and ancillary equipment permit controlled variation of simulated depth, porosity and permeability of reservoir rock, fluid composition, fluid pressure, injection pressure, and mud properties. Data can be recorded continuously by computer. A second system was developed to simulate building a mud cake on small cores, nine at a time. This is the multi-core mud cake and permeability (M&P) system that is designed to provide real time information about the second by second characteristics of liquid flow through porous media using clean water, during mud cake build-up, and when water goes through a mud cake. Special tamping equipment was developed to make 5 inch diameter artificial cores and a larger system to tamp the 32.5 inch diameter cores.
These artificial cores and also natural cores were used in the M&P system and Simulated Injection system respectively. These two in-place systems provide for extensive testing of the many variables that influence effective plugging of boreholes. Some results are listed below. Permeability using nitrogen as the fluid is higher than permeability of the same core plug using water. Depending upon the conditions of the rock and contaminates the ratio of the two permeabilities range from about 0.25 to 1.0. Even with these variations in the two permeabilities, there is a trend in the mud cake build-up permeability with respect to water permeability and also in situ fluid permeability with respect to water permeability. Therefore defining trending permeability relationships are feasible for relating water permeability to the potential mud or in situ permeabilities for given mud characteristics and differential pressures. A trend exists, with the cores tested in this project, that shows an increase in differential pressure (in a mud environment) reduces the effective permeability up to a critical pressureÑthen break-through appears to occur, which is accompanied by an effective permeability increase. The critical differential pressure is not consistent among a given set of cores having similar nitrogen permeability values and all being exposed to the same pressure differential. In none of the tests run during this project was the flow through the core completely stopped, but the flow rate was extremely slow.
Sponsor: U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
PIs: Marvin Smith
Gary Stewart (College of Arts & Sciences)
RAs: Randy Perry, Bill Holloway, Jackie D. Holman, Jr., Mike D. Smith, Chuck Tautfest, and Gary Overton
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