Earth-coupled heat pump

The object of the research work was to demonstrate that a water source heat pump could be used with an earth-coupled heat exchanger which was buried in an absorption field of a domestic sewage disposal system to provide the heating and cooling requirements for residential use in an energy efficient fashion. The system consists of a 3 ton heat pump (nominal rating of 34,000 Btu/hr), a closed-loop heat exchanger which was fabricated from 200 feet of 2 inch diameter cast iron soil pipe, and a calorimeter house which had heat transmission characteristics similar to a 100 sq ft house. The earth-coupled heat exchanger was connected to the water side heat exchanger of the heat pump. Water was circulated through the heat exchanger coil in the earth and through the water side heat exchanger of the heat pump. The earth served as the energy source (for heating) or sink (for cooling) for the heat pump.