The Effect of Ground Source Heat Pumps on Biodegradation Kinetics and
Contaminant Transport
Abstract
Geothermal or ground source heat pumps (GSHPs) are among the growing
renewable energy technologies used for heating and cooling of buildings.
However, little work has been done to investigate their
geo-environmental effects within the subsurface, especially in
contaminated environments. This research uses FEFLOW software, to
simulate heat and mass transport of a vertical closed-loop GSHP system.
Transient flow and heat transport results for a multiple borehole system
are presented for a hypothetical building located in Toronto, Canada,
and shows long-term effects on subsurface temperature. Moreover, the
impact of heat exchanged with the subsurface on biodegradation kinetics
is examined in a contaminant transport simulation, to evaluate the
possibility of utilizing this heat as a remediation strategy. The
results revealed that temperature changes caused by GSHP operation can
significantly enhance biodegradation of hydrocarbon contaminants. For
instance, elevated subsurface temperature resulted in 96% reduction in
benzene concentration, after one year of GSHP simulated operation for an
office building located in Toronto, Canada.