ᐅ Ground drilling for geothermal heat pump – High CO2 concentration
Created on: 2 Apr 2017 10:45
S
SniffieHello everyone,
The construction of our single-family house near Trier is scheduled to start next week (188m² (2,023 sq ft), KfW 55 standard with 36.5 KLB bricks, without external thermal insulation composite system, calculated heating load 6.5 kW). So far, we had planned to install a brine-to-water heat pump from Viessmann.
On Friday, we received information that the soil in our area has a high CO2 content due to a mineral spring. The deep drilling contractor gave us the following statement:
"There is a mineral spring in the locality that contains high levels of CO2. With CO2, there is a possibility that it diffuses into the probes and enriches the brine fluid. This leads to high pressures that escape in the basement (through an overpressure valve) or cause the system to foam. Even worse would be a continuous release of gases into the basement, which could lead to toxic fumes."
We have since started looking for alternatives (air-to-water heat pump, horizontal ground collectors, etc.) and asked the neighbors. It appears that several other homeowners have to vent CO2 from their heat pumps at certain intervals (reports ranging from every 4 weeks to twice a year). Furthermore, these systems are said to have a shorter service life because of this.
Now we have heard that there are diffusion-tight pipes available that can prevent this problem? Also, Waterkotte is said to offer “open” heating systems that would work (whatever that exactly means...). I have also seen geothermal heat pumps online that use CO2 as a heat transfer medium instead of brine.
Do you have any ideas or experiences on how to approach this? We would only consider switching to an air-to-water heat pump if there were no other options.
I would appreciate any feedback!
Best regards,
Marcel
The construction of our single-family house near Trier is scheduled to start next week (188m² (2,023 sq ft), KfW 55 standard with 36.5 KLB bricks, without external thermal insulation composite system, calculated heating load 6.5 kW). So far, we had planned to install a brine-to-water heat pump from Viessmann.
On Friday, we received information that the soil in our area has a high CO2 content due to a mineral spring. The deep drilling contractor gave us the following statement:
"There is a mineral spring in the locality that contains high levels of CO2. With CO2, there is a possibility that it diffuses into the probes and enriches the brine fluid. This leads to high pressures that escape in the basement (through an overpressure valve) or cause the system to foam. Even worse would be a continuous release of gases into the basement, which could lead to toxic fumes."
We have since started looking for alternatives (air-to-water heat pump, horizontal ground collectors, etc.) and asked the neighbors. It appears that several other homeowners have to vent CO2 from their heat pumps at certain intervals (reports ranging from every 4 weeks to twice a year). Furthermore, these systems are said to have a shorter service life because of this.
Now we have heard that there are diffusion-tight pipes available that can prevent this problem? Also, Waterkotte is said to offer “open” heating systems that would work (whatever that exactly means...). I have also seen geothermal heat pumps online that use CO2 as a heat transfer medium instead of brine.
Do you have any ideas or experiences on how to approach this? We would only consider switching to an air-to-water heat pump if there were no other options.
I would appreciate any feedback!
Best regards,
Marcel
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