Project Objectives

The objectives of the project are to develop a quality assurance and monitoring system for borehole heat exchangers (BHEs) based on dielectric high-frequency spectroscopy and a monitoring system which coordinates the habits and individual needs of the consumer with the heating system (conventional heat supply in combination with a ground-coupled heat pump).
The integration of the measuring system, the real-time monitoring of process parameters as well as the high spatial resolution of the obtained data enables error analysis in case of incomplete backfilling and long-term environmental monitoring of BHEs.

EIFER’s Contribution

• Techno-economic market analysis for BHEs for a proper monitoring system setup
• Basic dielectric characterization of relevant backfilling materials
• Design and installation of pilot test rigs for evaluation of the monitoring system functionality
• Simulation of different test conditions (backfill material, BHE system arrangement, cavities etc.)
• Evaluation of test results and optimisation of test procedures and the monitoring system prototype
• Acquisition of potential industrial partners for commercialization of the monitoring system