Quote:
Originally Posted by bigsmile
...The only thing seems to be certain technical difficulties, such as the oil return issue...If that's the case, I came upon a masters thesis on dx system, in which it is stated that as long as the wells are shallow (20' or so) and the velocity of the refrigerant fast enough, oil return isn't an issue. Does this sounds correct to you?
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Yes, the oil return does seem to be the issue with DX systems.
Some DX companies drill a series of holes from a central header vault, that radiate out and down, this reduces the vertical travel but allows sufficient length.
Quote:
Originally Posted by bigsmile
In your other post, you mentioned the patents on dx system. I guess it may be a good idea for me to read some of the patents. Actually I have came upon a couple of such patents during my random search, but the issue is that the website I read didn't have figures. Just reading the text didn't give me very clear idea. Does the site you mentioned (about patents) have figures?
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By figures, I think that you mean illustrations... My favorite patent site is:
called
freepatentsonline
...they have searchable text and you can also download a PDF of the whole patent, with pictures. I searched my files for a particular patent that would be very helpful to you, it was either taken out by one of the big air conditioning companies, or was assigned to them. Its real value was that it gave limits to certain proportions of tubing, like the length could not exceed 720 times the inside diameter (I just made these numbers up) in order for the lubricant to circulate properly. It had ratios like that for the whole system. Very useful.
Keep searching...
Also, there is a maker of GSHPs in Canada named
Maritime Geothermal Ltd. and I have a PDF that I found previously on their website called, "Maritime Geothermal Installation Manual.pdf". That shows an installer (that could be you) how to build a DX loop field. I think this may be very, very useful for you. I just tried to find this document again, but no luck.
The document is about 1.5 Meg, too big for EcoRenovator to handle.
If you send me an email via the EcoRenovator thingie, I'll send you a copy.
Quote:
Originally Posted by bigsmile
BTW this is really a great thread. I've spent some effort searching about GSHP, this is the one single most informative result I've found so far.
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I'm very glad that I can help. If you happen to come across material you want to share, this is the kind of place where you can share it.
I especially encourage you and anyone else who reads this, to do some actual experiments, to try things out.
I say this because it was when I built that little heat pump (that I am still testing) that this whole thing really started to seem possible.
And I think that when a group of people start sharing information and experiences, then the snowball will really start rolling.
Let me know if I can be of further help.
Regards,
-AC_Hacker