A PUBLICATION FOR WISCONSIN / U.P.

PLUMBING - HVAC - MECHANICAL AND RELATED INDUSTRIES

Wisconsin Perspective
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KBIS 2010

The key to cost-effective firestopping

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A Renewable Energy Section for Plumbing, HVAC, Mechanical and Related Industries

March-April 2010

Green Perspective
The goal of this article is to provide insight into and an understanding of the importance of design to any HVAC system, but more importantly, to geothermal systems. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has concluded that well-designed and properly installed high-efficiency geoexchange heat pump systems produce less environmental harm than any other alternative space-conditioning technology currently available. Geo-exchange systems are the most efficient technology available, with the lowest CO2 emissions for minimum greenhouse warming impact. Overall, the EPA found geo-exchange heating and cooling systems to have the lowest environmental cost of all technologies analyzedincluding air-source heat pumps and natural gas furnaces. Numerous studies have shown that heat pumps are often sized too large. For maximum efficiency, heating and cooling loads should be carefully determined using accepted procedures such as the Air Conditioning Contractors Associations Manual J. If a system is designed to -15, and we know that we spend less than 10 days at that temperature annually, it can be easily determined that most systems are oversized, not just geothermal systems. The design of a geothermal system must always start with a proper heat/cool load calculation. This is the only way a system can be sized properly and offer the cost-of-operation savings the system is capable of. Whether it is new construction or a retrofit application, I cant stress enough the importance of the load calculations.

Geothermal the importance of design

Fourth in a series

by Ron MacKinnon

Once the loads are determined, many manufacturers of geothermal systems like, Climatemaster, offer geothermal design programs like Geodesigner. These programs incorporate all the data necessary to properly design and size a geothermal system. Such as the following:

Ron MacKinnon geothermal/hydronic product specialist

Climate data Soil types and their conductivity Loop field configurations Equipment selection Utility costs Sizing comparisons Systems cost of operation for comparison There is a lot to consider when designing a geothermal system. The orientation of the loop field: Will it be horizontal or vertical? What type of horizontal loop field: slinky or racetrack? What depth will vertical wells be? What type of ground or soil will the loop field be installed in? Different soil types vary in how much the soil will give up (heat of extraction heating mode) and how much it will accept (heat of rejection in cooling mode). This is very important, and rule of thumb calculations or assumptions should be avoided. What size PE pipe should be used? The larger the pipe diameter, the more flow can be accomplished, so careful consideration must be employed when selecting the proper pipe size based on the flow rate needed to support the geothermal system. (continued on page 34)

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Green Perspective
(continued from page 33) Closed-loop geothermal systems require a flow rate of 3 gpm per ton, so a 4-ton system will require a flow rate of 12 gpm to maximize its capacity. To accomplish this, a loop field must be sized correctly, but just as importantly, the pump flow station must be sized to provide the correct flow. I cant count the number of situations I have encountered that have either to much flow or, worse yet, not enough. Without accurate flow measurement, the commissioning of a geothermal system is a guess at best. The rule of thumb for sizing pump stations, which are available in a single-pump or double-pump configuration, is that a 3-ton system and below will require a single-pump station and 4-ton and up requires a double-pump station. This may be fine for estimating projects, but the reality of it is that in some cases a single will work on a 4-ton and a double is sometimes needed on a 3-ton system. To ensure that adequate flow is attained, the following must happen: A loop field pressure drop calculation needs to be completed for each loop field. This calculation will model the loop field and provide the head that needs to be overcome. Further it will provide the amount of fluid in the system and determine the amount of anti-freeze required to get the proper freeze protection. In short, you total up the supply and return piping from the header into the flow station and then add in the longest loop. This calculation also incorporates the head produced by the equipments heat exchanger as well. The key to this calculation is the freeze protection used. Ethanol and glycol freeze-protection fluids are most commonly used in northern climates for freeze protection. Typically you will see freeze protection between 10 to 15F. This is usually a 25% antifreeze-to-water mix. Ethanol is much easier to pump than glycol, especially when glycol gets colder (below 40F). So you can have a particular loop field using ethanol, and a single-pump flow station will work correctly, but change the freeze protection to glycol, and it wont. So in this case a double-pump flow station would be required to ensure adequate flow through the system. Once you have determined the load, and designed and sized the geothermal system and the associated loop field, the next part of the system is designed: the distribution system. The distribution system could be either a properly engineered sheet metal duct system, a radiant infloor system, fan coil, or

feature
a low-temperature baseboard system. No matter the distribution system, careful attention must be paid to its design. You may have a properly designed and sized loop field and geothermal system, but if the distribution system is not designed in concert the overall performance, the system will be negatively affected. The result is a system that will not perform efficiently. This results in customer callbacks and numerous hours spent troubleshooting the equipment and loop field, overlooking the distribution system which, in some cases, is the actual cause of the callback. Geothermal systems are relatively low-tech systems. They are often perceived to be very complicated, but they are not, however, proper training and education is a must since geothermal systems are unique in detail. With their increasing popularity, I have seen the rush by companies to get involved with geothermal systems as an addition to their offerings. A word of caution on that: It is imperative that anyone getting into the geothermal market make sure they receive the proper training and, just as importantly, use that knowledge to ensure successful installations. It is not only good for the contractor, but is good for the customer as well. Remember that they are the ones buying the technology. Geothermal manufacturers and distributors like Climatemaster and Milwaukee Stove offer training in all areas of geothermal: design, installation, service, and sales, to name a few. They understand a properly designed system is imperative to the growth of this industry. They are making the investment to ensure it. So, if youre in the market for a geothermal system for your home or commercial project, I recommend that you do your homework on the front end. I would also recommend that you seek out contractors who are not only qualified but have experience designing and installing these systems. Ask: How many systems have you installed? What training have you had? And ask for at least three references. A great place to start is the Wisconsin Geothermal Association. Here you will find the most experienced contractors available in your area. In my next article we will discuss the economics of geothermal systems and what they actually cost to install. We will also be discussing cost of operation and determine the actual payback period once and for all.

Permission to reprint this article regarding geothermal systems was provided courtesy of Wisconsin Perspective magazine, a publication for Wisconsin and U.P. plumbing, mechanical, and HVAC-R-related industries. 2010 Wisconsin Perspective.

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