LAUSR

Abstract One significant obstacle to the adoption of geothermal heat pump (GHP) technology is the installation costs of geothermal heat exchangers (GHE). Cost reduction through optimization of system parameter offers the potential for increased applications. In the current work, five major parameters are considered: length, radius, well numbers, the flow discharge inside the pipe, and the pipe's external radius for optimization using a genetic algorithm (GA) for a residential building in hot climatic conditions. In addition, system optimization is critical in determining values of design parameters for assessing the impact different circulating fluids on the energy consumption of GHP. A ten-year simulation is undertaken to evaluate the capacity of various circulating fluids and their effects on energy consumption reduction. The simulation shows a significant decrease in energy consumption based on varying levels of Ethylene glycol, Methanol, Potassium acetate, Sodium chloride, Freezium™ compared to pure Water in the GHP. The COP of the GHP system is also calculated with different circulating fluids. In addition, the circulating fluid with the highest performance loss during ten years of operation is identified. Based on the results, Ethylene glycol is selected as the preferred solution for use in the GHP. In the present study, we have also established the optimum configuration of GHEs according to a reliable evolutionary algorithm for investigating the effect of various circulating fluids on the system's energy consumption.