Energy and Buildings 41 (2009) 1368–1373

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Energy and Buildings

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Thermal performance of borehole heat exchanger under groundwater flow:

A case study from Baoding
Huajun Wang *, Chengying Qi, Hongpu Du, Jihao Gu
School of Energy and Environment Engineering, Hebei University of Technology, Tianjin 300401, PR China

A R T I C L E I N F O A B S T R A C T

Article history: The performance of ground source heat pumps (GSHPs) depends strongly on the heat transfer between
Received 29 July 2009 the soil and borehole heat exchangers (BHEs). In the present work, a thermal performance experiment of
Accepted 5 August 2009 a BHE under groundwater flow was conducted in Baoding, China. Based on the measurement of the
natural ground temperature profile, a simplified theoretical model was presented to estimate the
Keywords: characteristics of groundwater flow. The results showed that the presence of groundwater had an
Ground source heat pump obvious influence on the temperature profile in the aquifer. Due to the strong groundwater advection,
Borehole heat exchanger
the thermal performance of the BHE was enhanced. The enhanced effect depends to a great extent on the
Groundwater flow
Thermal performance
distribution and thickness percentage of the ground layer with the greatest groundwater flow. In the
present case, the heat injection and heat extraction of the BHE were enhanced on average by 9.8% and
12.9%, respectively, compared with the case without groundwater flow, when the total thickness of
coarse sand and gravel layer as a percentage of the borehole depth was 10.6%. This enhanced effect is
favorable for reducing the possible imbalance between heat injection and extraction from and to the
ground, which is helpful for the long-term operation of GSHP systems.
ß 2009 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

1. Introduction Several numerical approaches have been developed to under-

In recent years, ground source heat pumps (GSHPs) have been
used increasingly around the world, because they are among the
cleanest and most energy efficient air-conditioning systems for
buildings [1]. A typical GSHP system mainly consists of a
conventional heat pump unit and a group of borehole heat
exchangers (BHEs). BHEs are devised for the extraction or injection
of thermal energy from or into the ground. The performance of
GSHPs depends strongly on the heat transfer between the soil and
the BHEs. Generally, for a soil with low hydraulic conductivity, the
heat transfer process is dominated by heat conduction. These
models, which are based on Fourier’s law of heat conduction,
include the analytical line-source model [2], the cylindrical-source
model [3], and the later numerical models [4–6]. On the contrary,
for a soil with high hydraulic conductivity, the heat transfer
process is inherently coupled with heat conduction and heat
advection by groundwater flow. The presence of groundwater
makes the heat transfer process in the ground rather complex. For
this reason, the effect of groundwater flow on the heat transfer of
BHEs has been neglected in previous classical models mentioned
above.
* Corresponding author. Tel.: +86 022 60204525; fax: +86 022 60204525.
E-mail address: huajunwang@126.com (H. Wang).
stand the thermal performance of BHEs under groundwater
advection. For example, Eskilson [7] used the improved line-
source theory for modelling the groundwater effect on a single
vertical BHE, and concluded that under normal conditions the
influence of regional groundwater flow is negligible. Similarly,
Lee and Lam [8] addressed that square borefields are less likely to
be affected by groundwater flow direction, especially if the
groundwater flow velocity is less than 106 m/s. Further, Chiasson
et al. [9] and Diao et al. [10] individually presented an updated
numerical model to investigate the effect of groundwater flow on
the heat transfer of BHE fields. Fan et al. [11] developed a dynamic
model for a vertical GHE with groundwater flow. Simulated results
showed that the impact of groundwater advection depends on the
groundwater velocities. From the point of view of experimental
studies, Witte et al. [12] discussed the effect of groundwater flow in
the vicinity of a BHE during the thermal response test (TRT). Lim
et al. [13] also investigated the variation of the thermal
conductivity and thermal resistance of a BHE. It is concluded that
the occurrence of groundwater flow in the rock can probably
improve the thermal capacity of the borehole. Recently, by means
of laboratory experiments with a thermal probe, Katsura et al. [14]
verified that the effective thermal conductivity with groundwater
flow is influenced by the period of elapsed time. In summary, the
present available results indicate that the groundwater flow even
at relatively low specific flow rates may cause significantly
enhanced heat transfer.

0378-7788/$ – see front matter ß 2009 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
doi:10.1016/j.enbuild.2009.08.001
 H. Wang et al. / Energy and Buildings 41 (2009) 1368–1373 1369

Nomenclature

cp specific heat (J/kg K)

H depth (m)
m mass flow rate (kg/s)
Pe Peclet number
q heat transfer rate per unit length (W/m)
t fluid temperature (8C)
T ground temperature (8C)
~
u velocity sector (m/s)
v average fluid velocity (m/s)
z vertical coordinate (m)

Greek symbols
a thermal diffusivity (m2/s) Fig. 1. The experimental setup for measuring the thermal performance of a BHE. (1)
insulated water tank (2) heat/cold source system; (3) measuring system; (4)
g temperature gradient (8C/m)
borehole heat exchanger; (5) circulating pump; (6) water heater; (7) evaporator; (8)
u normalized temperature PID controller; (9) compressor; (10) expansion valve; (11) condenser; (12) axial
j normalized depth cooling fan.

Subscripts The measuring system mainly included two Pt1000-type

b bottom
c outlet
j inlet
t top
In fact, the occurrence of groundwater flow is very site-specific.
By far, however, the relevant in situ experimental studies are
seldom reported. In many cases, a proper assessment on the impact
of groundwater advection is often hindered by lack of sufficient
information on the geological and hydraulic conditions. Especially,
the location and depth of groundwater flow in the ground layer are
rarely considered. With the background above, the present work
describes an in situ case study of the heat transfer performance a
BHE with groundwater flow. Based on the measurement of the
natural ground temperature profile, the characteristics of ground-
water flow and its influences on the thermal performance of the
BHE were analyzed. Another purpose of this work is to provide
some useful guides for the design and optimization of GSHP
system.
temperature sensors with 0.1 8C accuracy, a GPR-II type electro-
magnetic flow meter with 0.001 m3/h accuracy, an electric meter,
and other auxiliary instrument for control and display. Before the
installation, all temperature sensors were calibrated by an XLR-1 type
constant-temperature bath with 0.01 8C accuracy. In addition, for
measuring the natural ground temperature distribution, ten cali-
brated Pt1000-type temperature sensors were embedded at the
different depths of the borehole.
Fig. 2 shows an in situ experimental view of the equipment to
measure the thermal performance of a BHE in Baoding (latitude
38.858N, longitude 115.508E), China. In the present work, the depth
and diameter of the borehole were 78 m and 250 mm, respectively.
A double U-shaped DN32 type high-density polyethylene pipe was
used for the BHE, and medium-coarse sand was used for the
backfill materials after drilling. All exposed pipes were insulated
effectively using rubber-plastic materials with a thickness of
20 mm, in order to reduce the undesired loss of heat or cold. The
test period extended from 20 September to 10 October 2008.
The heat transfer rate (q) of a BHE as a function of depth is
calculated by measuring the inlet and outlet fluid temperature and
the flow rate through the BHE. It can be expressed as

2. Experimental investigations mc p ðt j  t c Þ
q¼ (1)
H
Fig. 1 shows the experimental setup for measuring the thermal
performance of the BHE. The setup mainly consisted of a heat/cold
source system, a measuring system, and a BHE. The heat/cold
source system was able to keep a relatively constant-temperature
inside a 40 L insulated water tank, thus guaranteeing a stable inlet
fluid temperature to the BHE. The water tank was made of SUS304-
type stainless steel plates. The stainless steel plates were 2 mm
thick, and the polyurethane insulation layer surrounding them was
30 mm thick. The heating was provided by an adjustable electric
water heater, while the cooling was obtained by means of a typical
R22 refrigeration cycle consisting of a Daikin-JT95 type rotor
compressor, a fin condenser, an expansion valve, and a coil
evaporator. The condenser was cooled by an axial air-cooling fan.
The maximum heating and cooling output was 12 kW and 9 kW,
respectively. In addition, an advanced proportional-integral-
derivative (PID) temperature controller was mounted on the
operation panel. The operation temperature for the water tank
ranged from 5 8C to 40 8C. A 90W Wiley-RS25 type circulating
pump was used to keep the flow circuit. Its maximum flow rate and
the hydraulic head were 2.5 m3/h and 6 m, respectively. Fig. 2. The in situ experimental photo in Baoding, China.
1370 H. Wang et al. / Energy and Buildings 41 (2009) 1368–1373

where m is the flow rate, cp is the specific heat, tj and tc are the inlet
and outlet fluid temperatures of the BHE respectively, and H is the
borehole depth.

3. Simplified Modelling of the ground temperature profile

under groundwater flow

In order to better understand the effect of groundwater flow on

the thermal performance of the BHE, the knowledge of the natural
ground temperature profile under groundwater flow is indis-
pensable. Usually, at the deep ground where the disturbance of the
ambient conditions is neglectable, the temperature driven by
the upward oriented geothermal heat flux increases linearly with
the depth. This is the so-called conductive-type ground tempera-
ture profile. According to the author’s previous studies, the
temperature gradient ranges from 0.02 8C/m to 0.03 8C/m in most
areas of North China [15]. If groundwater advection becomes
dominant, however, the linear temperature profile will tend to be
non-linear or convective.
Ground water is present nearly everywhere, but it is only
available in usable quantities in aquifers. Fig. 3 shows a typical
pattern of the natural ground temperature profile in an ideal
aquifer-aquitard system, where groundwater is mostly confined in
the aquifer and groundwater movement is dominated by the
horizontal flow. It can be seen that there are two typical convective
temperature profiles, depending on the fluid with warmer or
cooler origins in the aquifer. If the origins are warmer, there
appears a heating-type convective temperature profile. Otherwise,
a cooling-type convective temperature profile occurs.
Theoretically, the steady-state energy governing equations in
the aquifer can be described as
ar2 T  rð~
uTÞ ¼ 0
where T is the ground temperature, a is the thermal diffusivity, ~
u is
the fluid velocity vector.
According to Bredehoeft and Papadopulos’s analysis as well as
the above assumptions on groundwater flow [16], the second term
uTÞ  vg , where v and
in Eq. (2) can be approximately written as rð~
g are the magnitude of the average fluid velocity and the
temperature gradient, respectively. Thus, we can obtain a
simplified form of Eq. (2) as
2
d T Pe  g
¼ (3)
dz2 H
where z is the downward vertical coordinate, H is the thickness of
the aquifer along the depth direction, Pe is the dimensionless Peclet
number, and defined as Pe ¼ =a. From the definition, the Peclet
Fig. 4. Variation of the normalized ground temperature in the aquifer with
normalized depth.
number expresses the heat transport by the bulk fluid movement
to the heat transported by only conduction.
By applying the Dirichlet-type conditions, the analytical
solution to Eq. (3) is
Pe
u ¼jþ  ðj1Þj (4)
2
where u and j are the normalized temperature and normalized
depth or vertical distance, respectively, and defined as
u ¼ T  Tt
(5)
Tb  Tt
(2)
z
j¼ (6)
H
Fig. 4 shows the variation of the normalized ground tempera-
ture with the normalized depth in the aquifer. When the Peclet
number equals to zero, there appears to be a linear temperature
profile, indicating that heat conduction is dominant. The left and
right sections near the conductive-type temperature profile
represent the cooling-type and heating-type convective tempera-
ture profile, respectively. It can also be seen that, as the Peclet
number increases, the ground temperature profile in the aquifer
deviates gradually from the background conductive trend. Thus,
based on the measurement of the natural ground temperature
profile, the characteristics of groundwater flow including the flow
velocity can be estimated, which are also helpful to further
understand the thermal performance of the BHE under ground-
water flow.

4. Experimental results and discussion

4.1. The effect of groundwater flow on the natural ground

temperature profile

As mentioned above, for typical shallow geological layers we

Fig. 3. Patterns of the natural ground temperature profile. I: conductive-type
temperature profile, II: cooling-type convective temperature profile, III: heating-
type convective temperature profile.
can distinguish three ground zones: (i) a shallow zone reaching a
depth of about 0–20 m, where the ground temperature distribu-
tion depends mainly on the seasonal cycle of weather conditions;
(ii) a constant-temperature zone below a depth of about 20–40 m,
where the ground temperature remains relatively constant and is
close to the average ambient temperature; (iii) a deep zone below
40 m, where the temperature increases linearly with depth.
However, such a conventional ground temperature profile may
change greatly when groundwater flow exists.
 H. Wang et al. / Energy and Buildings 41 (2009) 1368–1373 1371

gravel, respectively. There was a relatively strong groundwater

Fig. 5. The measured results of the natural ground temperature profile.
Fig. 5 shows the measured natural ground temperature profile
in the case of Baoding. The measured temperature of in situ
groundwater at shallow depths was about 15.2 8C, higher than the
temperature (14.88 8C) at the constant-temperature zone. After
regression, the temperature gradient for the ground layer with a
conductive-type temperature profile was 0.0212 8C/m, which was
in agreement with the results discussed above. It was also found
that the ground temperature at some depths deviated severely
from the background trend. It is groundwater flow that led to such
an interesting temperature profile. For instance, at a depth of about
30 m, the ground temperature increased due to the heating effect
of groundwater flow. On the other hand, below a depth of about
50 m, the ground temperature began to decrease gradually due to
the cooling effect of groundwater flow on the adjacent ground.
Therefore, the actual ground temperature profile becomes more
complex, due to the occurrence of groundwater flow. Further, this
explanation can be verified by the following results of a soil
sampling analysis.
Table 1 lists the results of the soil sampling analysis. It can be
seen that the soil within the range of the borehole depth mainly
consisted of different types of clay. However, at the depth of about
30 m and 74 m were dominated by medium sand and coarse
flow at the medium sand and coarse gravel layer, and this was also
reflected from the measured results of porosity ratio. The porosity
ratio ranged from 0.2 to 0.4 in the clay or silty clay layer, while
increased to 0.5–0.6 in the medium sand and coarse gravel layers.
As a result, higher porosity promoted the groundwater flow to
a great extent. Combining Fig. 5 and Table 1, we can come to a
conclusion that the groundwater flow had an obvious effect on the
ground temperature profile. However, this phenomenon is often
neglected due to lack of enough information of groundwater flow,
especially in the engineering applications.
Further, based on Eq. (5) and Fig. 4, the flow velocity of
groundwater in the medium sand layer can be estimated. Fig. 6
compares the theoretical and measured temperature profiles. It
can be seen that, when Pe = 16, the measured data can match
reasonably well with the theoretical pattern. Here, the negative
sign expresses a heating-type convective temperature profile.
Thus, the flow velocity of groundwater can be calculated as
0.96  106 m/s or 30.27 m/a (a is measured as 0.6  106 m2/s),
far higher than that in typical clay layers (2  107 m/s or 6.22 m/
a). Similarly, Chiasson et al. [9] analyzed the Peclet number in the
coarse sand layer when ground water was dominant. After
calculation when the characteristic length was 4.5 m, the value
was 13.4, which is very close to the present results. In summary,
when the Peclet number exceeds about 5, the effect of ground-
water flow gradually becomes dominant.
It should also be noted that, due to the limitation of the drilling
depth, only a part of temperature profile in the coarse gravel layer
was obtained, as shown in Fig. 5. So the corresponding prediction
of the flow velocity is not carried out. In spite of this, the present
analytical model can effectively provide a simplified approach to
estimate the flow velocity of groundwater in the aquifer. Such an
analysis is helpful to evaluate the heat transfer behavior of the BHE
under the actual operation conditions of groundwater flow. In
addition, the present analytical model is expected to be improved
in the later studies in order to be suitable for more situations of
groundwater.
4.2. The effect of groundwater flow on the thermal performance of the
BHE
In the present work, the BHE was at first operating for a long
time (about 18 h) under the condition without heating or cooling.
When reaching the steady-state, the average fluid temperature is
15.47 8C, which is often treated as the average ground tempera-
ture. Then, two heat extraction modes and two heat injection

Table 1
The results of the soil sampling analysis.

No. Sampling Soil type Porosity Water

depth (m) ratio permeability

1 4.8–5.0 Silty 0.339 Weak

2 9.8–10.0 Silty clay 0.316 Weak
3 14.8–15.0 Silty clay 0.231 Weak
4 19.8–20.0 Silty clay 0.390 Weak
5 24.8–25.0 Silty clay 0.352 Weak
6 28.8–29.0 Medium sand 0.508 Strong
7 30.8–31.0 Silty clay 0.366 Weak
8 35.3–35.5 Silty clay 0.341 Weak
9 39.8–40.0 Silty clay 0.297 Weak
10 44.8–50.0 Silty clay 0.311 Weak
11 49.8–50.0 Silty clay 0.231 Weak
12 54.8–55.0 Silty clay 0.254 Weak
13 61.8–62.0 Silty sand 0.438 Weak
14 66.8–67.0 Clay 0.156 Weak
15 70.8–71.0 Clay 0.188 Weak
16 73.8–74.0 Silty clay 0.139 Weak
Fig. 6. Comparison between the measured and theoretical results of the normalized
17 78.3–78.5 Coarse gravel 0.577 Very strong
ground temperature.
1372 H. Wang et al. / Energy and Buildings 41 (2009) 1368–1373

modes were performed in order to evaluate the thermal

performance of the BHE and its surrounding soil. The experiment
was run at a succession of the inlet fluid temperatures, which were
set as 6 8C, 8 8C, 25 8C, and 30 8C, respectively.
Figs. 7 and 8 show typical experimental results under heat
extraction and heat injection operation conditions, respectively. It
can be seen that, as the heating or cooling time increases, the heat
transfer rate of the BHE drops rapidly, and then tends to be steady
gradually after 24–30 h. Further, Fig. 9 summarizes the variation
of the heat transfer rate of the BHE with the average fluid
temperature in the presence of groundwater flow. By the least
square method regression (LSMR), there appears a linear relation
between the thermal performance of the BHE and the average fluid
temperature. This is in agreement with the theoretical results [16].
In the same figure, a simulated result using the software
TRNSYS is also plotted for a case without groundwater flow. It was
also found by comparison that, due to the groundwater flow, the
thermal performance of the BHE was enhanced. After calculation
based on the regression equations, under the typical fluid
operation temperature ranging from 28 8C to 30 8C in summer
and from 6 8C to 8 8C in winter, the heat injection and heat
extraction rate of the BHE were enhanced on average by 9.8% and
12.9%, respectively, compared with the case without the ground-
water flow. In short, the average enhancement was 11.35%. On the
other hand, the total thickness of the coarse sand and gravel layers
as a percentage of the total borehole depth was calculated as
10.64%, which was very close to the enhanced value above. That is
to say, the enhanced effect on the heat transfer of the BHE
depended to a great extent on the distribution and thickness
percentage of the ground layer with the greatest groundwater
flow. Thus, during the design of BHEs for GSHP systems, once the
Fig. 8. Experimental results under typical heat injection conditions.
results of the measurement of the natural ground temperature

profile as well as the soil sampling test are known, the enhanced
effect of groundwater flow on the steady heat injection and heat
extraction rate of the BHE can be preliminarily evaluated.
During many GSHP applications especially in those regions with
hot summers and cold winters, an imbalance frequently occurs
between heat injection and extraction from and to the ground. For
example, in the present case when the inlet/outlet temperature of
the BHE was 6.0/8.8 8C for the heat extraction mode in winter and
30.0/26.1 8C for the heat injection mode in summer, the experi-
mental heat transfer rate of the BHE was 42.39 W/m and 58.88 W/
m, respectively. This major difference should be taken into full
consideration during the design of the BHE. In such cases, the
ground temperature surrounding the BHE may potentially increase
over a number of years, resulting in a lowering of performance of

Fig. 9. Comparison of the thermal performance of the BHE between with and
Fig. 7. Experimental results under typical heat extraction conditions. without groundwater flow.
 H. Wang et al. / Energy and Buildings 41 (2009) 1368–1373
the heat pump as the fluid temperature rises [17]. However, this
imbalance phenomenon can be reduced greatly in places with a
strong groundwater flow, because the surplus heat injection in
summer can be rapidly diffused by the enhanced effect described
above. On the other hand, as Fan et al. indicated [11], the larger the
groundwater velocity is, the more energy loss during the summer
operation is. If so, the heat supply ability of the BHE can be
improved with an increasing groundwater velocity during the
winter operation. This is helpful for the long-term operation of
GSHP systems. Therefore, the influences of groundwater flow on
the thermal performance of the BHE should be fully considered in
the design of GSHP systems. Considering that the heat transfer of
the BHE under groundwater flow is a rather complex problem, it is
suggested that more in situ thermal performance experiments
should be conducted in order to obtain an ultimate solution.
5. Conclusions
For the design and optimization of GSHP systems, it is crucial for
the reasonable evaluation of the thermal performance of the BHE.
In the present work, a thermal performance experiment of a BHE
under groundwater flow was conducted in Baoding, China. Based
on the measurement of the natural ground temperature profile,
a simplified theoretical model was presented to estimate the
characteristics of groundwater flow. From the experimental results
discussed above, the following conclusions can be obtained:
(i) The presence of groundwater flow has a strong influence on
the temperature profile in the aquifer. There are two typical
convective temperature profiles, depending on the fluid with
warmer or cooler origins in the aquifer. If the origins are
warmer, there appears a heating-type convective temperature
profile. Otherwise, a cooling-type convective temperature
profile occurs. Further, based on the measurement of the
natural ground temperature profile, the flow velocity of
groundwater can be estimated preliminarily using the above
simplified analytical model.
(ii) Due to the strong groundwater advection, the thermal
performance of the BHE is enhanced. The enhanced effect
depends to a great extent on the distribution and thickness
percentage of the ground layer with the greatest groundwater
flow. In the present case of Baoding, the heat injection and heat
extraction of the BHE were enhanced on average by 9.8% and
12.9%, respectively, compared with the case without the
groundwater flow, when the total thickness of coarse sand and
gravel layer as a percentage of the borehole depth was 10.64%.
(iii) From the point of view of engineering applications,
this enhanced effect is favorable for reducing the possible
1373
imbalance between heat injection and extraction from and to
the ground, which is helpful for the long-term operation of
GSHP systems.
Acknowledgements
The authors are grateful for the supports provided byProgram
for Young Excellent Talents in Hebei University of Technology,
Key Scientific Support Foundation of Tianjin, China (No.
07ZCKFSF00400), and National Major Project of Scientific and
Technical Supporting Programs of China during the 11th Five-year
Plan Period (No. 2006BAJ03A06).
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