A geothermal heat pump or 'ground source heat pump,' is a highly efficient renewable energy technology that is becoming popularized for both residential and commercial buildings. Geothermal heat pumps are used for space heating, and can also be used for water heating. Because the earth's temperature 5-10 feet below ground level remains at a relatively constant temperature throughout the year, the benefit of geothermal systems is that they concentrate naturally-existing heat, rather than by producing heat through the combustion of fossil fuels.¹ ● EEE ● 33 You are tasked with designing a geothermal heat pump system for a residential home that requires 3.5 tons (12.3 kW) of heating capacity. As part of the design, the geothermal heat pump system will also provide energy to the house's hot water heater. You are asked to design a system that provides at least 12.3 kW of heating capacity to the forced air heating system of the home on an average winters day, when the temperature of the buried water/antifreeze lines of the geothermal loop can be assumed to be 12°C and the temperature of the outside air can be assumed to be 0°C. The intent is to keep the house's forced air at or above a temperature of 21°C. The hot-water heater should be able to heat water to a temperature of 48°C. ● Source: https://www.climatemaster.com/news/energy-bills/2018- For an explanation of geothermal heat pumps, you can watch this video provided from the US DOE. For an example of what components are needed in a residential geothermal heat pump system used for water and air heating, reference this example that shows a geothermal system used to heat both forced air and hot water. (Note: the operating conditions shown in this example do not meet the specifications of this project, so do not attempt to copy/paste the example directly for your design!) When designing the residential heat pump cycle, you can make the following assumptions: The cycle is operating at steady-state conditions The compressor operates adiabatically with an isentropic compressor efficiency of ns,c = 82% 07-11-geothermal-heating-and-cooling-for-your-home The refrigerant enters the compressor as a saturated vapor (x = 1) The refrigerant enters the expansion valve (throttling process) as either a saturated liquid (x = 0) or a compressed liquid [this is a design choice] You can ignore pressure drops in piping of the system or in the lines of the heat exchangers Project Expectations: As the design engineer, you are asked to first scope the heat pump cycle's operating conditions, analyze the feasibility of the geothermal heat pump system for the home owners, and analyze the environmental impact and safety of the system you are designing. Once this preliminary design is properly scoped, you are then tasked with designing and analyzing a geothermal heat pump system that meet's the home owners' needs. Your project is broken into two distinct milestones: