Energy and Buildings 68 (2014) 562–570

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Energy and Buildings

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Experimental measurements and CFD simulation of a ground source

heat exchanger operating at a cold climate for a passive house
ventilation system
Agnieszka Flaga-Maryanczyk a,∗ , Jacek Schnotale a , Jan Radon b , Krzysztof Was b
a
Institute of Thermal Engineering and Air Protection, Cracow University of Technology, 24 Warszawska Str., 31-155 Krakow, Poland
b
Department of Rural Building, Agriculture University of Cracow, 26 Al. Mickiewicza, 30-059 Krakow, Poland

a r t i c l e i n f o a b s t r a c t

Article history: The paper presents the experimental measurements and numerical simulation of a ground source heat
Received 24 May 2013 exchanger operating at a cold climate for a passive house ventilation system. The investigated passive
Received in revised form 5 August 2013 house is a detached single-family house without a basement, occupied by a four head family, located in the
Accepted 3 September 2013
South of Poland. The measurements cover over one year period and CFD (Computational Fluid Dynamics)
simulations are reported for February when system operates at typical for this period and location cold
Keywords:
climate conditions. The calculations were made with the CFD ANSYS FLUENT software package. The house
Ground source heat exchanger
and its components are fitted with a data acquisition system that is operational from 2011 and records
Passive house ventilation
CFD
139 points at an interval of 1 min. The data reported in the paper were recorded during winter in the
year 2011/2012 by an onside located meteorological station and temperature sensors placed at different
depths in the ground and at the outlet of the ground heat exchanger.
© 2013 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

1. Introduction of components used in conventional buildings. The potential for

In the coming future, due to the threats of climate change, short-
age of fossil fuel energy resources and progressive degradation of
the environment resulting from their combustion, it will be of cru-
cial importance to continue with the efforts in the field of energy
efficiency and renewable energy sources. The analysis of the final
end use of energy in the EU-27 in 2010 shows three dominant cate-
gories: namely, transport (31.7%), households (26.7%) and industry
(25.3%) [1]. Approximately 70% [2] of the total households deliv-
ery energy consumption comprise the energy for space heating.
The space heating load mainly depends on the heat losses of the
building and heat demand for preheating the ventilation fresh air.
It results from the sum of the transmission and ventilation heat
losses as well as of the internal and passive solar gains [3]. Sig-
nificant reductions in household energy demand can be achieved
by promoting low energy building technology as demonstrated by
the Passive House concept [4], which is characterized by a holistic
approach, combining several measures into a consistent frame-
work. The aim is to provide an acceptable and even improved indoor
environment (in terms of indoor air quality) and thermal comfort
at minimum energy demand and cost. The significant reduction in
cost can only be achieved by simplification or complete omission
∗ Corresponding author. Tel.: +48 12 6282896; fax: +48 12 6282048.
E-mail address: agnieszkaflaga@poczta.onet.pl (A. Flaga-Maryanczyk).
cost reduction is also offered by prefabrication of building elements
[4].
The first passive house was built in Germany in the year 1992
[5]. The term “passive house” refers to a construction standard.
Passive houses are buildings that assure a comfortable indoor cli-
mate during summer and winter without needing any conventional
heating or cooling system [3]. For Central Europe climate condi-
tions it means generally that the annual maximum space heating
demand of a passive house is below 15 kWh/(m2 a), the envelope
has extremely low U-values of walls (<0.15 W/(m2 K)) and win-
dows (typical overall U-value 0.8 W/(m2 K)), the use of specific
primary energy for all domestic applications (heating, hot water
and domestic electricity) must not exceed 120 kWh/(m2 a) in total,
the minimum efficiency of heat recovery is 75%, and the airtightness
is limited to n50 = 0.6 1/h [4].
The Passive House standard is at present the world leading
standard in energy-efficient construction. 20 years of experience
in Germany, Austria and Switzerland led to gaining its accep-
tance all over the world. This trend is certified by the instantly
increasing number of accomplished buildings complying with the
Passive House standard [6]. The leading authority in the field is
the Darmstadt Passivhaus Institut founded in 1996 as an indepen-
dent research institution employing physicists, mathematicians
and civil, mechanical and environmental engineers [7]. Another
important research center is at Fraunhofer Institute for Solar Energy
in Freiburg [8].

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http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.enbuild.2013.09.008
 A. Flaga-Maryanczyk et al. / Energy and Buildings 68 (2014) 562–570
The extended thermal insulation and enhanced air tightness
of a passive house removes the need for heating source temper-
ature higher than 50 ◦ C, what makes renewable energy sources
particularly suitable for heating, cooling and domestic hot water
production [9]. Shallow geothermal energy is one of the renewable
energy sources, which is very popular in such applications. A rather
standard equipment of the passive house which enables ground
thermal energy usage, is a ground source heat exchanger coupled
with a ventilation system. Such an application is often a viable and
economical alternative or a supplement to heating or cooling pur-
poses of buildings. It can transfer heat stored in the Earth into a
building during the winter, and cool down ventilation air during
the summer (protecting from the overheating).
The application of the ground source heat exchanger coupled
with the ventilation system can help in meeting strict Passive House
standards [7]. As the Passive House concept is based on passive use
of solar energy, addressing the problem of overheating is essen-
tial, especially in summer and sometimes during other periods as
well. The solution for that is a good solar protection system, and
passive cooling by night time natural ventilation. In most cases the
mechanical ventilation rates in systems without ground coupled air
intake are too low for most effective cooling, in summer. A ground
source heat exchanger coupled with the ventilation system reduces
the supply air temperature during daytime, and allows for ambient
cooling in summer [7].
The ground temperature below a certain depth (typically
between 10 and 20 m [10,11], depending on climatic conditions
and properties of soil) remains relatively constant throughout the
year [12]. Due to the high thermal inertia of soil, the temperature
fluctuations present at the surface of the ground diminish along
with the increase of the depth. Therefore, at a sufficient depth, the
ground temperature is always higher than that of the outside air in
winter and is lower than the outside air temperature in summer.
The difference between the temperature of the outside air and the
temperature of the ground can be utilized for ventilation air heating
in winter or cooling in summer. To exploit the heat capacity of the
ground, a heat exchanger has to be constructed. Usually, a ground
source heat exchanger is an array of horizontally, vertically or in
oblique position buried pipes that intermediate in heat exchange
between the ground and the medium that may itself be used for
pre heating air or as a heat source for a heat pump. Alternatively
in summer-time the ground source heat exchanger can operate to
cool down air or condenser cooling fluid for an air conditioning
system.
There are two main types of ground source heat exchangers:
open and closed loop system. In an open system the medium, that
may itself be used for heating or cooling (e.g. ventilation air), is
directly heated or cooled by the ground. In a closed cycle the ground
capacitance is indirectly used with the aid of a heat carrier medium
that is circulating in a closed loop system. A number of ground
source heat exchange systems cannot be categorized either as open
or as closed [3].
In recent years, there has been a notably concern in the
field of ground source heat exchangers especially in context of
the low energy buildings and passive houses. A comprehensive
review of systems, models and applications of ground source heat
exchangers present Florides and Kalogirou in [12]. Wu et al. [13]
describe the experimental measurement and numerical simula-
tion of horizontal-coupled slinky ground source heat exchangers
at a UK climate. To predict the thermal performance of a portion of
the horizontal-coupled slinky and straight heat exchangers a CFD
software package FLUENT was used in which the measured thermo-
physical properties of in situ soil were used. The described ground
source heat exchangers were part of the ground source heat pump
systems. Also [14] deals with the efficiency and the energy behav-
ior of ground source heat pumps used for heating and cooling of
563
Fig. 1. The south-west elevation of the passive house.
buildings. In particular horizontal type heat exchangers have been
investigated for different configurations, in order to evaluate the
characteristics of these systems in the most common layouts and
in different working conditions. The calculations were made with
the CFD software Fluent and the simulations covered one year of
system operation, both in summer and winter for typical climate
conditions of the South of Italy.
Badescu in [15], continuing previous research on passive house
space heating [3,16], develops a simple model for a ground
source heat exchanger being a part of the central ventilation sys-
tem of a passive house, that is based on a numerical transient
bi-dimensional approach that allows to compute the ground tem-
perature at the surface and at various depths. The model was
integrated into the existing theoretical approach and implemented
within the computer code used to simulate the heating system
operation in Pirmasens Passive House in Germany. In another work
[9] the same author investigates the economic feasibility of differ-
ent passive house active space heating systems based on ground
thermal energy utilization. One of possible configurations of the
heating system that were studied, was that using a ground source
heat exchanger being a part of the central ventilation system of a
passive house.
The aim of this paper is to contribute to these researches
with experimental measurements and CFD simulation of a ground
source heat exchanger operating at a cold climate for a passive
house ventilation system. According to the literature review such
paper has not been presented so far.
2. The passive house at a southern location in Poland
The investigated passive house is located in a small village
(Boruszowice, coordinates: 50◦ 30 48.05 N, 18◦ 46 29.77 E) in Cen-
tral Europe, in southern Poland, in Silesian Voivodeship. It lies
34 km north-west of the regional capital. The Polish climate, sim-
ilarly to German or Austria (located in the same climatic zone), is
mostly temperate throughout the country. A feature of the climate
is the wide variety of weather. Summers are generally warm and
winters are rather cold with snow.
The passive house (Figs. 1 and 2) is a detached single-family
house without a basement, occupied by a four head family (two
adults and two children). It has a floor area of approximately 120 m2
located on two stories and approximately 311 m3 of internal vol-
ume. The length of the building is 10.58 m, its width is 7.77 m and
its height is about 8 m. The building was constructed in 2010 using
pre-fabricated, lightweight technology.
564 A. Flaga-Maryanczyk et al. / Energy and Buildings 68 (2014) 562–570

Fig. 2. Plans and cross-section of the passive house.

The building meets the strict Passive House standards. Its annual
maximum space heating demand is below 15 kWh/(m2 a). The
blower door test performed before settling gave the result of
0.36 1/h and later, after the house was already occupied, 0.5 1/h.
The building also has the typical characteristic of a passive house.
Solar heat gain is increased by placing the windows (with high
solar transmittance of glazing) mainly within the south eleva-
tion. An exception makes one window on the west elevation,
on which the main entrance doors are also located. All win-
dows, except from a glass door leading to a terrace, are fixed,
with no possibility of opening. The ventilation of the building
is mechanical. Warm air circulation at low velocity ensures the
proper heat distribution throughout the rooms. The space-heating
energy demand of the passive house is covered by the floor heating
system and by the warm air of a central mechanical ventilation
system. The thermal energy for heating purposes (floor heat-
ing system, air heating coil) as well as for domestic hot water
production is provided by the ground source heat pump (see
Fig. 3).
The building has no traditional foundations. The walls are based
on a 0.25 m thick reinforced concrete slab, placed on a 0.4 m thick
layer of evenly laid expanded polystyrene. Thermal insulation slabs
are placed on the layer of compacted gravel and sand which extend
below the frost depth (see Fig. 4). Such construction of the foun-
dations eliminates the heat bridges and heat losses are technically
cut to a minimum.
The heat capacity of the applied reinforced concrete slab is the
highest in the whole building. This heavyweight structure accumu-
lates more heat from indoor air (when the indoor air temperature
rises) or from incident solar radiation than any other building com-
ponent. When the indoor air temperature drops heat flows back to
the indoor air. This causes diminishing the amplitude of air tem-
perature fluctuations in the building. The concrete slab is also very
important for better utilization of transient heat gains. Alongside
with the buffer tank it is an additional element for heat accumula-
tion in the building.
In the bottom part of the reinforced concrete slab floor heating
pipes were installed. Such localization enables longer intervals in

floor heating
system

domestic
hot water

T1
heat pump

condenser
T2
M air heating coil

M domestic hot
water tank

domestic cold
water supply
evaporator
(heat pump ground
source heat exchanger)

Fig. 3. The schematic view of the heating and domestic hot water production system in the passive house.
 A. Flaga-Maryanczyk et al. / Energy and Buildings 68 (2014) 562–570 565

frame structure of external wall

concrete overlayment thermal insulation

reinforced slab

floor heating

expanded polystyrene
20+20cm

bedding

compressed sand

Fig. 4. The foundations of the passive house.

heating system supply due to the capability of heat accumulation
in the slab. Described construction of the foundations in the passive
house has not been tested so far in Polish conditions.
The local climate has a significant influence on the microclimate
of the building and the thermal energy demand for heating pur-
poses. Its basic parameters are: temperature and relative humidity,
solar radiation and wind speed and direction. These parameters are
the basic set of boundary conditions for the numerical simulation of
the building and its components. They allow defining the real pas-
sivity of the building, because the term “energy demand for space
heating” has meaning only in relation to the real local climate.
In order to make continuous measurements of the needed cli-
mate parameters, the local meteorological station was built (Fig. 5).
The building and associated installations were also provided with
measuring equipment. All measuring instruments used repre-
sented physical quantities measured in the form of electrical signals
(voltage, current, pulse). The list of sensors used for measurements
of parameters relevant for the study is presented in Table 1.
The data were collected by the recorders and after digital
processing stored in the computer. The measurements started after
the settlement of the building. Measurement frequency was fixed
at the level of 1 min. Some results could be observed on line
(internet site: http://www.buduj-pasywnie.pl/dom online). This
enabled constant monitoring throughout the year and plausibility
check.
Obtained data serve for the research which includes regulat-
ing the indoor environment, hygrothermal performance of thermal
envelope and monitoring of active systems (heating and ventila-
tion) as well as their energy use. The general aim of the whole
study is to examine real life performance of one low energy
building that was selected from a number of such buildings
that were recently constructed in Poland. All of these buildings
were built with similar technology, with very limited variations
in a layout and installations’ arrangements, so obtained data
can be considered as representative for this type of construc-
tion.

Fig. 5. The local meteorological station (a) and the pyranometer for the scattered radiation measurement (b).
566 A. Flaga-Maryanczyk et al. / Energy and Buildings 68 (2014) 562–570

Table 1
The list of sensors used for measurements relevant for the study.

Sensor name/type Measured parameter, location Measuring range Accuracy

Thermohygrometer LB-710R Temperature and relative humidity of the open air, Temperature: −40. . .85 ◦ C, relative ±0.1 ◦ C, RH: ±2%
meteorological station humidity: 0. . .100%
Thermohygrometer LB-710HS Temperature and relative humidity of indoor air, rooms Temperature: −40. . .85 ◦ C, relative ±0.1 ◦ C, RH: ±2%
humidity: 0. . .100%
Thermoanemometer DeltaOhm Air temperature and air velocity, pipes of GSHE and ventilation Temperature: −10. . .60 ◦ C, air ±0.3 ◦ C
HD2937TC12 ducts velocity: 0.05. . .20 m/s 0.02 m/s ±3%
PT100 sensor Ground temperature, ground −50. . .180 ◦ C ±0.15 ◦ C
Top1068

3. The ground source heat exchanger for the passive house summer (protection from overheating the house) and increas-
ventilation system ing its temperature in winter (preheating), before entering the
house.
The ventilation system of the passive house consist of a ground
source heat exchanger (GSHE), a heat recovery unit and an air
4. CFD simulations
heating coil supplied from a ground source heat pump, what is a
preferable solution for passive houses. In summer-time, the used
For numerical simulations of the ground source heat exchanger
air removed from the building by-passes the heat-recovery unit due
coupled with a ventilation system of the passive house a Computa-
to protection from overheating of the house.
tional Fluid Dynamics (CFD) software package ANSYS FLUENT v.
The schematic view of the ventilation system in the passive
14 was used. ANSYS FLUENT provides comprehensive modeling
house is presented in Fig. 6.
capabilities for a wide range of incompressible and compress-
A ground source heat exchanger reported in this paper, which
ible, laminar and turbulent fluid flow problems. Steady-state or
is a part of the mechanical ventilation system of the passive house
transient analyses can be performed. In ANSYS FLUENT, a broad
described in chapter 2, is an open type, set of buried horizontally
range of mathematical models for transport phenomena (like heat
at depth of 1.5 m PPE plastic pipes. The three 15.85 m long pipes
transfer and chemical reactions) is combined with the ability to
of a diameter 125 mm are connected parallelly along with a mani-
model complex geometries. Examples of ANSYS FLUENT applica-
fold and returning pipes of a diameter 200 mm and total length of
tions include laminar non-Newtonian flows in process equipment;
9.19 m (Fig. 7). The total heat transfer area of this heat exchanger
conjugate heat transfer in turbomachinery and automotive engine
is equal 15.54 m2 . The ground source heat exchanger extends at a
components; pulverized coal combustion in utility boilers; exter-
rectangle of 5.95 m by 5.09 m covering area of 28.78 m2 . Soil slab
nal aerodynamics; flow through compressors, pumps, and fans; and
that was taken in the CFD simulation has 2.0 m depth and is by
multiphase flows in bubble columns and fluidized beds. Robust and
one meter larger then extends of the pipes. The ambient air passes
accurate turbulence models are a vital component of the ANSYS
through tubes buried in the ground, lowering its temperature in
FLUENT suite of models. The turbulence models provided have a
broad range of applicability, and they include the effects of other
physical phenomena, such as buoyancy and compressibility. Par-
air supply exhaust air ticular care has been devoted to addressing issues of near-wall
to the building to ambient accuracy via the use of extended wall functions and zonal models.
Various modes of heat transfer can be modeled, including natu-
ral, forced, and mixed convection with or without conjugate heat
transfer, porous media, etc. [17]. This numerical tool allows simu-
lating the behavior of systems, processes and equipment involving
heating coil supplied
from a heat pump

fresh air supply from

the ventilation system
exhaust air ground source
from the house heat exchanger

by-pass

cross-flow heat recovery unit

Fig. 7. A ground source heat exchanger coupled with a ventilation system of the
Fig. 6. The schematic view of the ventilation system in the passive house. passive house.
 A. Flaga-Maryanczyk et al. / Energy and Buildings 68 (2014) 562–570 567

manifolded to a pipe of a different diameter that carries air in the

counterflow direction. This layout is not convenient from numer-
ical modeling point of view but simplifies GSHE installation and
provides better arrangements on a rather small lot that belongs to
this building.
For the simulation the pressure-based transient realizable k-
epsilon model with enhanced wall treatment with thermal effect
option was applied. The pressure-based solver is an algorithm
which belongs to a general class of methods called the projection
method. In the projection method, wherein the constraint of mass
conservation (continuity) of the velocity field is achieved by solving
a pressure (or pressure correction) equation. The pressure equa-
Fig. 8. A mesh of the ground source heat exchanger model.
tion is derived from the continuity and the momentum equations
in such a way that the velocity field, corrected by the pressure, sat-
flow of gases and liquids, heat and mass transfer, chemical reac- isfies the continuity. Since the governing equations are nonlinear
tions and related physical phenomena. Wu et al. [13] and Congedo and coupled to one another, the solution process involves iterations
et al. [14] proved this tool to be useful for numerical modeling of the wherein the entire set of governing equations is solved repeatedly
ground source heat exchangers being a part of the ground source until the solution converges. The k-epsilon model is one of the most
heat pump system. common turbulence models, and it gives good results for wall-
The first step in starting the CFD calculation is preparation bounded and internal flows with small mean pressure gradients
of a mesh that for the soil slab and pipes of the ground heat [18]. The equation for the k-epsilon model is in built in FLUENT
exchanger considered in this paper is comprised of 324,381 nodes software itself. As a solution method pressure–velocity coupling
and 1,738,521 cells (elements) (Fig. 8). The approach to model the was chosen (with a simple scheme).
whole slab of surrounding soil along with pipes of the ground Boundary thermal conditions were assumed as adiabatic for side
source heat exchanger was necessary since the geometry cannot walls of the soil slab and isothermal with temperature based on
be simplified by introduction of a symmetry planes. The pipes measured values at the bottom of the soil slab. Boundary con-
of the heat exchanger are arranged in such a way that part of ditions at the ground level were modelled as convective heat
the flow is distributed in parallel pipes but then three flows are transfer between soil surface and free stream of air having actual

279
at four different depths [K]

278
Temperature of the ground

277
276
275
274 T 10 cm
273
272 T 40 cm
271 T 80 cm
270
269
T 160 cm
2012-02-01
2012-02-02
2012-02-03
2012-02-04
2012-02-05
2012-02-06
2012-02-07
2012-02-08
2012-02-09
2012-02-10
2012-02-11
2012-02-12
2012-02-13
2012-02-14
2012-02-15
2012-02-16
2012-02-17
2012-02-18
2012-02-19
2012-02-20
2012-02-21
2012-02-22
2012-02-23
2012-02-24
2012-02-25
2012-02-26
2012-02-27
2012-02-28
2012-02-29

Date

Fig. 9. Measured temperatures of the ground at four different depths (10 cm, 40 cm, 80 cm and 160 cm).

285

280

275
Temperature [K]

270
T ground 10 cm
265
T ground 40 cm
260
T ground 80 cm
255 T ground 160 cm

250 T air_outside

T gshe_out
245
2012-02-01
2012-02-02
2012-02-03
2012-02-04
2012-02-05
2012-02-06
2012-02-07
2012-02-08
2012-02-09
2012-02-10
2012-02-11
2012-02-12
2012-02-13
2012-02-14
2012-02-15
2012-02-16
2012-02-17
2012-02-18
2012-02-19
2012-02-20
2012-02-21
2012-02-22
2012-02-23
2012-02-24
2012-02-25
2012-02-26
2012-02-27
2012-02-28
2012-02-29

Date

Fig. 10. Measured temperatures of the ground at four different depths (10 cm, 40 cm, 80 cm and 160 cm), of the outside air (TAIR outside ) and at the outlet of the ground source
heat exchanger (TGSHE out ).
568 A. Flaga-Maryanczyk et al. / Energy and Buildings 68 (2014) 562–570

Fig. 11. Ground source heat exchanger 3D pipe temperature distribution.

temperature that for each time step was dynamically taken from
measurements. The ground source heat exchanger air inlet temper-
ature was assumed to be equal to outside air temperature measured
at each time step. Flow rate of air was taken from the measured val-
ues. The convergence criteria for numerical simulation at each time
step were continuity, x-velocity, y-velocity, z-velocity, k, epsilon
and the energy. The convergence for all criteria except for the
energy criterion was set at a level of 1E−3. The convergence for the
energy criterion, that was important from energy point of view, was
set at a lower level of 1E−6. The calculation was done at each time
step until all of the convergence criteria were met. Starting point
of temperature distribution in a soil slab was established based Fig. 12. Ground source heat exchanger thermal profile cross-sections.
on a preliminary steady state simulation that was followed by a
dynamic simulation performed for about one week proceeding the
simulation reported in this paper.
The simulations covered one month (February) of system oper- ventilation air intake. The temperature of the fresh, outside air is the
ation in typical for this location cold climate conditions. The data lowest temperature along the whole ground source heat exchanger
used in the simulation were those recorded in the year 2012 by in considered month (February) and thus the impact of the pipe on
a local meteorological station (Fig. 5) and temperature sensors isotherms of the ground is so significant, the biggest in the whole
located at different depths in the ground and at the outlet of the soil slab. Fig. 12a shows the interference of the two utter pipes
ground source heat exchanger coupled with a ventilation system with the one in the centre of the set of three parallel pipes of the
of the passive house. ground source heat exchanger (the first three from the right side of
As expected, despite significant fluctuations in ground tempera- Fig. 12a). The isotherms of the ground for the middle pipe are more
ture at a depth of 10 cm (see Fig. 9), caused by changes in outside air biased than the ones for the outer pipes. The last figure (Fig. 13)
temperature, ground temperature at greater depths was very sta- presents the temperature volume rendering.
ble. The period of cold weather did not cause significant changes in
ground temperature at a depth of heat exchanger location (approx-
imately 140 cm).
Fig. 10 presents juxtaposition of the measured tempera-
tures at different depths in the ground, the temperature of the
outside air and the temperature at the outlet of the ground
source heat exchanger. Analysis of the collected experimental
data show that the ground source heat exchanger success-
fully suppressed the fluctuations of the outside air temperature,
what was significant especially during severe frost in early
February.
The graphical results of performed CFD simulations of the
ground source heat exchanger for the ventilation system of the
passive house are presented in Figs. 11–13. Fig. 11 shows that
the change in temperature of the ventilation air occurs along the
entire length of the tubes of the ground source heat exchanger.
Figs. 12a, b and 13 present the impact of the pipes of the ground
source heat exchanger on the temperature distribution in the soil.
On the right side of Fig. 12b the largest deviation of the isotherms
in the ground can be seen. The blue colored pipe is the place of the Fig. 13. Ground source heat exchanger volume rendering.
 A. Flaga-Maryanczyk et al. / Energy and Buildings 68 (2014) 562–570 569

5. Results and discussion

Percentage of heat for heang the venlaon

60%

air that was provided by the GSHE [%]

50%
Fig. 14 presents juxtaposition of obtained experimental data
40%
and simulation results of the temperature at the outlet of
30%
the ground source heat exchanger operating for the passive
20%
house ventilation system. The calculated RMS (Root Mean Square)
10%
error is 0.62% which means that the difference between cal-
culated and measured values is 1.7 degree on average. It 0%

is satisfactory for this type of simulation that is based on -10%

field measurements on a real installation, especially with the -20%
very wide range of temperatures at the ground source heat -30%
exchanger inlet of about 39 K (from 245 K to 284 K) in analyzed -40%
period. -50%
Good correlation of measured and calculated values (described

2012-02-01

2012-02-03

2012-02-05

2012-02-07

2012-02-09

2012-02-11

2012-02-13

2012-02-15

2012-02-17

2012-02-19

2012-02-21

2012-02-23

2012-02-25

2012-02-27

2012-02-29
by the RMS error 0.62%) leads to the conclusion that used CFD tool is
suitable for simulation of the ground source heat exchanger operat-
ing at the cold climate for the passive house ventilation system and
Date
the obtained results physically capture the trend of indoor thermal
environment. Fig. 15. Percentage of heat for heating the ventilation air that was provided in
February was the coldest month in the analyzed year. The February by the ground source heat exchanger operating for the passive house
average outdoor temperature was 266 K. The ground source heat ventilation system.

exchanger operating for the passive house ventilation system

enabled to exploit the heat capacity of the ground for heating The following figure (Fig. 16) presents the percentage of cover-
means, successfully suppressing the fluctuations of the outside air age of heat for heating the ventilation air that was provided by the
temperature, what was significant especially during severe frost in ground source heat exchanger operating for the passive house ven-
early February. Fig. 15 presents percentage of heat for heating the tilation system for several other analyzed months. The percentage
ventilation air that was provided in February by the ground source of coverage of heat for heating the ventilation air that was pro-
heat exchanger. vided by the ground source heat exchanger in these months is set
On average, the ground source heat exchanger provided 24% together with the temperature of the outside air and the temper-
of heat for heating the ventilation air in February. It was the ature of the air at the outlet of the ground source heat exchanger
largest value during the analyzed year but, as mentioned above, coupled with the ventilation system of the passive house in each
February was the coldest month. As shown in Fig. 14, there analyzed month.
were days in February when the ambient air temperature was On average, since December–April the ground source heat
higher than the temperature measured at the outlet of the exchanger provided the coverage of heat for heating the ventilation
ground source heat exchanger. For those days some values in air in these months at the level of 15%.
Fig. 15 appear negative. This means that the ground source heat Apart from the above, the analysis of collected data in the annual
exchanger unnecessarily lowered the temperature of the outside measurement period generally shows that the passive house venti-
air before it was transported to the passive house heat-recovery lation system with the ground source heat exchanger worked very
unit. To avoid such losses of energy the ground source heat stable. It was not the object of this article, but should be underlined
exchanger should be by-passed which should be automatically that in summer time, the ground source heat exchanger effectively
controlled. protected the building from overheating.

290

285

280

275
Temperature [K]

270

265

260

255 T gshe_out_measured
250 T gshe_out_calculated

245 T air_outside

240
2012-02-02
2012-02-03
2012-02-04
2012-02-05
2012-02-06
2012-02-07
2012-02-08
2012-02-09
2012-02-10
2012-02-11
2012-02-12
2012-02-13
2012-02-14
2012-02-15
2012-02-16
2012-02-17
2012-02-18
2012-02-19
2012-02-20
2012-02-21
2012-02-23
2012-02-24
2012-02-25
2012-02-26
2012-02-27
2012-02-28
2012-02-29

Date

Fig. 14. Experimental data (TGSHE out measured ) and simulation results (TGSHE out calculated ) of the air temperature at the outlet of the ground source heat exchanger. TAIR outside –
represents the temperature of ambient air (before entering the ground source heat exchanger).
570 A. Flaga-Maryanczyk et al. / Energy and Buildings 68 (2014) 562–570
Percentage of heat for heang the venlaon
air that was provided by the GSHE [%]
30%
25%
20%
[%]
15%
10%
5%
0%
December
285
Temperature [K]
280
275
270
265
260
255
December
Fig. 16. Percentage of heat for heating the ventilation air that was provided by the ground source heat exchanger operating for the passive house ventilation system (TAIR outside
and TGSHE out are given as mean temperatures in the analyzed month).
6. Conclusions
In this work the experimental measurements and numerical
simulations of a ground source heat exchanger operating at a cold
climate for the passive house ventilation system have been ana-
lyzed. In particular February, as the coldest month in the analyzed
year, was under detailed investigation.
The ground source heat exchanger operating for the passive
house ventilation system at the cold climate enabled to exploit
the heat capacity of the ground for heating means, successfully
suppressing the fluctuations of the outside air temperature, what
was significant especially during severe frost in early February. On
average, the ground source heat exchanger provided 24% of heat
for heating the ventilation air in February, and since December to
April the mean value of coverage was at the level of 15% of heat for
heating the ventilation air in these months.
The CFD simulations performed for the ground source heat
exchanger operating for the passive house ventilation system for
February, based on experimental data showed good correlation
with the measured values. The calculated RMS error is 0.62% which
means that the difference between calculated and measured values
is 1.7 degree on average. It is satisfactory for this type of simu-
lation that is based on field measurements on a real installation,
especially with the very wide range of temperatures at the ground
source heat exchanger inlet of about 39 K (from 245 K to 284 K) in
analyzed period.
The difference between measured and calculated values at the
level of 1.7 degree on average leads to the conclusion that used CFD
tool is suitable for simulations of the ground source heat exchanger
operating at the cold climate for the passive house ventilation sys-
tem and the obtained results physically capture the trend of indoor
thermal environment.
January February March April
T air_outside
T gshe_out
January February March April
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