Groundwater Heat Pump (GWHP) Systems to Fight Urban Heat Islands: A Solution for Canada's Major Cities

Victoria Lee, Jasmin Raymond, Christine Rivard, Felix-Antoine Comeau, Juliet Newson

Dans les comptes rendus d’articles de la conférence: GeoNiagara 2021: 74th Canadian Geotechnical Conference; 14th joint with IAH-CNC

ABSTRACT: Urban heat islands can have detrimental impacts on the health of people living in large cities. One of the contributors to this phenomenon is the heat rejected from conventional air conditioning systems. Finding energy efficient alternatives with low heat and greenhouse gas emissions for cooling buildings is critical in the context of global warming. This study aims to increase knowledge on the feasibility of using groundwater heat pump (GWHP) technology for cooling purposes in Canada. Aquifer thermal energy storage (ATES) and free cooling are also being explored as options to increase the efficiency and longevity of GWHP systems. A geological compilation was first conducted to evaluate the cooling potential of aquifers below major Canadian cities that seem more suitable for the implementation of GWHPs. Several factors were selected as evaluation criteria based on a previous study and on the information found in publicly available databases and groundwater studies. The city selection was narrowed down to Toronto, Montreal, Vancouver, Calgary, Edmonton, Ottawa/Gatineau, Winnipeg, Quebec City, Kitchener, and Saskatoon. Preliminary results show that most of these cities are suitable for using groundwater to cool buildings. To provide real data for one of the more suitable cities, a field study in Quebec City is being conducted in a 30 m thick deltaic sandy aquifer. Data collected during two heat injection tests are being used for numerical modeling. These data include thermal conductivity and groundwater velocity values, grain-size analyses, static and dynamic water level measurements, and temperature measurements. Multiple scenarios are being simulated in FEFLOW to assess the performance of hypothetical GWHP and ATES systems in Quebec City for archetype buildings and the influence of free cooling. Future results will inform us on how GWHP performance can be optimized in Quebec City according to the type of building and the type of system.

Please include this code when submitting a data update: GEO2021_287

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