Investigation of using solar and ground source heat pump system for residential heating in Elaziğ

Climate and ground conditions in our country are very suitable for ground source heat pumps. A proportion of more than 25% of the electrical energy consumption of countries are consumed on the heating and cooling of homes. The electricity demands of consumers constantly increases together with advances in technology. Ground source heat pumps, create more effective outcomes in the use of energy because of the resolute change of heat in the ground and because it maintains its performance at high levels in cold climates.In present study, the test room of 12 m2 floor area has been heated by solar and ground source heat pumps under Elazığ climate conditions. In order to lay the Slinky ground heat exchanger pipes, two ditches with width of 1 m, depth of 2 m and length of 15 m have been excavated. The Slinky pipes have been laid horizontally and vertically in the ditch and the water-antifreeze mixture has been circulated through the horizontal and vertical slinky ground heat exchangers by the circulation pump. The heat absorbed from the ground has been conveyed to the area to be heated through the heat pump. Furthermore, the system has been operated with solar energy by using six flat plate solar collectors. Thus, the performance of the operated systems has been compared. Furthermore, comparisons have also been performed by the exergy analyses and second law efficiency calculations of the systems.The results obtained from exergy analysis are as following. Exergy efficiencies were determined as 44.8%, 43.3% and 41.1% for heat pump (HP) with horizontal slinky ground heat exchanger (GHE), HP with vertical GHE of 0.1 kg/s mass flow rate and solar assisted heat pump, while those were calculated for system as 36.7%, 35.4% ve 36.6%, respectively.