A heat energy recovery system from tunnel waste water

Hytiris, N., Ninikas, K., Emmanuel, R., Aaen, B. and Younger, P. L. (2018) A heat energy recovery system from tunnel waste water. Environmental Geotechnics, 5(5), pp. 300-308. (doi: 10.1680/jenge.15.00087)

Abstract

Minimising the maintenance costs of water ingress in transportation tunnels is a significant challenge. Decreasing the overall cost of a ground source heat pump system is equally challenging. An effort to address both issues at once has been made in relation to groundwater ingress in the Glasgow Subway system. Inflowing water is a valuable resource which could be channelled through a water source heat pump (WSHP) to produce heat energy for domestic or public use (heating and domestic hot water). Water flow and water temperature have been recorded for a year at 21 different points within the network of the underground tunnels and platforms. The points of highest water influx were identified, and the heat energy content of each has been calculated. Working from these data, several options were identified for capturing the water and diverting it to a WSHP to recover heat. A final design for a pilot system within the tunnels was developed. The findings of this study are expected to contribute a renewable heat solution through a cost-effective heat pump system design.

• Item Type: Articles
• Status: Published
• Refereed: Yes
• Glasgow Author(s) Enlighten ID: Younger, Professor Paul
• Authors: Hytiris, N., Ninikas, K., Emmanuel, R., Aaen, B., and Younger, P. L.
• College/School: College of Science and Engineering > School of Engineering > Systems Power and Energy
• Journal Name: Environmental Geotechnics
• Publisher: Thomas Telford (ICE Publishing)
• ISSN: 2051-803X
• ISSN (Online): 2051-803X
• Published Online: 02 September 2016
• Copyright Holders: Copyright © 2017 ICE Publishing
• First Published: First published in Environmental Geotechnics 5(5):300-308
• Publisher Policy: Reproduced in accordance with the copyright policy of the publisher