System and method for monitoring and operating ground-source heat pumps

Abstract

A method of operating a thermal system implementing a ground-source heat pump includes receiving design parameters associated with a design of the thermal system and receiving one or more measurement inputs associated with a flow of a thermal fluid through a borefield of a ground heat exchanger. The method further includes, based on the measurement inputs and the design parameters, predicting one or more predicted thermal values of the thermal fluid using a forward model. The method further includes predicting one or more predicted borefield parameters of the borefield based on inverting the forward model. The method further includes monitoring the thermal system based on the predicted borefield parameters.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A method of operating a thermal system implementing a ground-source heat pump, comprising:
 receiving design parameters associated with a design of the thermal system;   receiving one or more measurement inputs associated with a flow of a thermal fluid through a borefield of a ground heat exchanger;   based on the measurement inputs and the design parameters, predicting one or more predicted thermal values of the thermal fluid using a forward model;   predicting one or more predicted borefield parameters of the borefield based on inverting the forward model; and   monitoring the thermal system based on the predicted borefield parameters.   
     
     
         2 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the design parameters include borehole geometry data for one or more boreholes of the borefield, and/or completion geometry data for a completion of the one or more boreholes. 
     
     
         3 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the measurement inputs include a flowrate of the thermal fluid through the ground heat exchanger and/or a thermal flux between the thermal fluid and the borefield. 
     
     
         4 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein inverting the forward model includes minimizing a target difference between the predicted thermal values and one or more measured thermal values. 
     
     
         5 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the predicted thermal values include one or more of a predicted inlet temperature of the thermal fluid flowing into the ground heat exchanger, a predicted outlet temperature of the thermal fluid flowing out of the ground heat exchanger, a predicted flow rate of the thermal fluid through the ground heat exchanger, and a predicted fluid pressure drop of the thermal fluid. 
     
     
         6 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein predicting the one or more predicted thermal values with the forward model and inverting the forward model to predict the one or more predicted borefield parameters are each performed during operation of the ground-source heat pump. 
     
     
         7 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the one or more predicted borefield parameters includes one or more of a predicted ground thermal conductivity, a predicted grout thermal conductivity, and a predicted far-field ground temperature. 
     
     
         8 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein monitoring the thermal system includes monitoring a health of the thermal system based on tracking the predicted borefield parameters over time. 
     
     
         9 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising generating a digital twin of the borefield by inferring a temperature at one or more locations in the borefield based on the predicted borefield parameters. 
     
     
         10 . The method of  claim 9 , wherein monitoring the thermal system includes monitoring a minimum inferred temperature for any location in the borefield based on the digital twin. 
     
     
         11 . The method of  claim 9 , wherein inferring the temperature is further based on lithology data of the borefield. 
     
     
         12 . The method of  claim 9 , wherein the digital twin illustrates a temperature map of the borefield. 
     
     
         13 . The method of  claim 12 , wherein it comprises providing a visualization of the temperature map of the borefield to a user. 
     
     
         14 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein monitoring the thermal system includes determining a fault of the thermal system based on a deviation of one or more measured thermal values from the one or more predicted thermal values. 
     
     
         15 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein monitoring the thermal system includes determining a thermal state of charge of the borefield. 
     
     
         16 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein monitoring the thermal system includes predicting one or more future thermal values. 
     
     
         17 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising controlling an operation of the ground-source heat pump based on the predicted borefield parameters. 
     
     
         18 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the one or more predicted borefield parameters include one or more of a predicted ground thermal conductivity, a predicted grout thermal conductivity, and a predicted far-field ground temperature. 
     
     
         19 . A system, comprising:
 at least one processor;   memory in electronic communication with the at least one processor; and   instructions stored in the memory, the instructions being executable by the at least one processor to:
 receive design parameters associated with a design of the thermal system; 
 receive one or more measurement inputs associated with a flow of a thermal fluid through a borefield of a ground heat exchanger; 
 based on the measurement inputs and the design parameters, predict one or more predicted thermal values of the thermal fluid using a forward model; 
 predict one or more predicted borefield parameters of the borefield based on inverting the forward model; and 
 monitor the thermal system based on the predicted borefield parameters. 
   
     
     
         20 . A computer-readable storage medium including instructions that, when executed by at least one processor, cause the processor to:
 receive design parameters associated with a design of the thermal system;   receive one or more measurement inputs associated with a flow of a thermal fluid through a borefield of a ground heat exchanger;   based on the measurement inputs and the design parameters, predict one or more predicted thermal values of the thermal fluid using a forward model;   predict one or more predicted borefield parameters of the borefield based on inverting the forward model; and   monitor the thermal system based on the predicted borefield parameters.