37º IAHS World Congress on Housing: - Universidad de Cantabria

XXXVII <strong>IAHS</strong><strong>World</strong> <strong>Congress</strong> on HousingOctober 26 – 29, 2010, Santander, SpainCODE: 255STUDY OF DIFFERENT GROUTING MATERIALS TO BEUSED IN VERTICAL GEOTHERMAL HEAT EXCHANGERSRoque Borinaga 1 *, Daniel Castro-Fresno 1 , Pablo Pascual-Muñoz 1 , Francisco Ballester Muñoz 11 Department of Transports and Projects and Processes TechnologyUniversity of Cantabria, Santander, Spain.*Corresponding author e-mail: borinagar@unican.esKey words: Geothermal heat exchanger, grout, borehole, heat pump.AbstractGeothermal energy is one of the renewable energies with more potential when applied to theheating and cooling of buildings. This energy is economical, ecological, reliable and easy toextract by using a Heat Pump. This paper presents a new research project focused on thestudy of new grouting materials to fill in Borehole Heat Exchangers. This project is beingdeveloped by the University of Cantabria in collaboration with the construction companyContratas Iglesias S.A. Up to date, previous researches on the thermal properties of thegrouting materials are few. However, improvements on these thermal properties lead to areduction in the total length of the borehole heat exchanger required, thus making the wholeinstallation more convenient. This project aims to evaluate not only the thermal, but also thehydraulic and mechanic properties of different filling materials. First of all, the possibility ofusing cement or lime based mortars will be studied. As aggregates, the use of industrial byproductsand construction and demolition wastes will be probed. In this research line, thepossibility of using a Horizontal Geothermal Heat Pump System to extract the heat stored inpermeable pavements subbases will also be studied. The extraction capacity will depend onthe different aggregates used in the subbase. Finally, the most economical and efficientgrouting materials will be compared in a real installation for heating and cooling a building.37º <strong>IAHS</strong> <strong>World</strong> <strong>Congress</strong> On Housing Science 146