Verticle Closed Loop System

RHI Energies offers a complete turnkey package from the design of the bore field through to the supply and installation of the complete system up to and including the heat pumps. Upon completion of the installation RHI Energies then flushes and commissions the system ready for operation.

Starting with the initial client consultations and feasibility reviews RHI Energies models a geothermal system based on the parameters available to the site specific needs.

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Summary of Technologies

A vertical closed loop ground source geothermal system comprises vertical HDPE pipes inserted into the ground to depths of up to 200m. The final depth of the loop is dependent upon the geology of the ground, the thermo conductivity levels of the soil, the heat and rejection absorption requirements and the load profile for the building.

Using the latest design software RHI Energies is able to model the system based on a building load profile enabling the ground loop to be designed in order to achieve high COP’s via the ground source heat pumps.

The ground source pipe work system carries water from the ground (the heat collector / rejecter) to a highly efficient ground source heat pump in order to provide the building with hot water for the heating systems or domestic hot water for washing purposes, and then chilled water for cooling.

The heat pump takes the energy that has been stored from the ground via the ground loops and provides hot water to the building. The heat pump can then be switched into “reverse cycle” mode and will then reject heat energy into the ground loops to provide cooling to the building during the summer months.

RHI Energy Offers

Non-fee, early evaluations by project so as to provide key information to clients such as geological information, bore field sizes and costs of vertical systems
Assistance with C02 and energy assessment for planning
Thermal conductivity testing to evaluate ground conditions prior to finalising the overall system design
Confirmation of specification of system requirements and fully detailed modelled designs
Drilling of the vertical bore holes and installation of the geothermal looping
Installation of all external geothermal pipe work in order to connect the bore field to the internal systems
Supply and installation of the ground source heat pump hydraulic circuit including valved header arrangements, heat pumps, geo circulation pumps, pressurisation sets, dosing systems, expansion vessels etc
Final testing and flushing of the complete geothermal circuit
Filling, dosing and verifying the % of glycol within the system
Final commissioning of the system for client use
Dedicated, installed IOMs
Training of the client and his representatives in the operation of the system and equipment

Key Benefits

Suitable for residential, commercial and retail applications
Design for building loads anywhere from 6kw on single residencies to 500kw on district systems
Highest possible energy efficiency
Highly flexible system solution due to the modular design
Suitable for projects in the UK and abroad
Extremely low maintenance
Efficiency of system can be guaranteed all year round as the temperature underground is constant compared to air cooled systems that have variable ambient temperatures
Low payback periods in life cycle costing analysis are highly efficient and give low running/maintenance costs
No fumes, no flues, no fuel stores
No building structural requirements (or structural costs) to support geothermal systems as all installed below ground and no requirement for large internal plant spaces or roof plant areas
System has no visible or noise impact as it is installed below ground and therefore no line of sight or acoustic screens and planning becomes simplified
50 years lifecycle on bore field pipework
Systems qualify for the Renewable Heat Incentive
Closed loop systems do not have the Environmental Agency regulatory controls as open loop systems do. This usually results in the closed loop systems being faster in both design and installation

System Options

Reverse cycle water heat pumps
Water to direct expansion (VRF) solutions
Heat recovery heat pumps
Passive and active free cooling options
Single or double closed loop systems
Loop depths to 200 meters so as to limit footprint of bore field
60 degree C domestic hot water supply
Solar water pre-heat for ground loop optimisation.