Downhole heat exchanger

Short description: Type of heat exchanger

Drilling process for a downhole heat exchanger. Furled tube in the foreground on the left. Bottom end of a downhole heat exchanger Top end of a downhole heat exchanger

A downhole heat exchanger, (DHE) also called a borehole heat exchanger, (BHE) is a heat exchanger installed inside a vertical or inclined borehole.[1] It is used to capture or dissipate heat to or from the ground. DHT's are used for geothermal heating, sometimes with the help of a geothermal heat pump. Downhole heat exchangers, like other use of geothermal energy, have the potential to significantly contribute to the reduction of CO
2 emissions.[2] In northern Europe, DHE are already widely deployed.[3]

## Contents

* 1 Types
* 1.1 U-tube
* 1.2 Open pipe
* 1.3 Standing column well
* 2 External links
* 3 References

## Types

### U-tube

The heat exchanger usually consists of one or two u-tubes through which the carrier fluid, usually water, circulates. The space around the u-tubes is filled with groundwater or backfilled with thermally conductive grout.

### Open pipe

Another design uses a single open pipe to flow water downward. The water then returns through the annular gap between the pipe and the casing. This design provides better thermal contact than u-tubes, but risks contamination by groundwater. Since this involves practically no downhole equipment, these systems usually only go by the name of borehole heat exchangers (BHT).

### Standing column well

If no casing is installed and groundwater is permitted to charge the system, this arrangement is no longer a BHT, but rather a standing column well.

## External links

* Video documentation: Installation of a downhole heat exchanger
* John W. Lund: The use of downhole heat exchangers (2003)

## References

1. ↑ "Downhole Heat Exchangers". Geo-Heat Center - Oregon Institute of Technology. http://geoheat.oit.edu/bulletin/bull20-3/art1.pdf.
2. ↑ "Geothermal Energy - Professur für Geothermal Technologies". https://www.bgu.tum.de/en/gtt/research/geothermal-energy/.
3. ↑ "Geothermal Energy: Summary of emerging technologies and barriers to development". https://www.mbie.govt.nz/assets/14861fe5a3/geothermal-barriers-update-1.pdf.

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