CH-18-C057 -- Performance Enhancement of Urban Ground Source Heat Pumps through Interactions with Underground Railway Tunnels PDF

Ground source heat pumps (GSHPs) can provide an efficient way of heating and cooling buildings due to their high operating efficiencies. The implementation of these systems in urban environments could have further benefits. In such locations the ground source heat is potentially more accessible via alternative sources such as through underground railways (URs). This paper investigates to what extent the heat in the soil surrounding an UR tunnel could enhance the operation of urban GSHPs installations. To address this, a numerical investigation was set out which included a parametric study considering a number of geometrical options of the systems. The results showed that heat extraction rates of GSHPs installed near UR tunnels can be significantly improved by up to~43%.