As part of the Horizon Europe-funded SEEDS project, 26 partners (universities, research and technology organizations, companies, municipalities and a non-profit organization) are exploring affordable electrified solutions to heat and cool buildings thereby increasing the share of renewable energy. One of the pilot sites is the Almshouses “De Schipjes”, a social housing neighborhood in Bruges (Belgium), where a fully renewable clean collective hybrid system is being tested.
Challenge
At "De Schipjes" in Bruges (Belgium) one of the technologies in the clean collective hybrid system is a geothermal heat pump, which uses a borefield as source, and which is, for the centralized production, hybridized by an air-source heat pump and solar thermal collectors. One of the innovations to be tested is the seasonal hydronic switch aiming for maximized annual system performance. To get the best overall system performance, it is important to monitor the temperatures in the borefield, thus deep underground. The challenge was to measure temperatures every meter and every minute in two boreholes up to 125 meters deep — without losing reliability or durability.
Solution
Fluves supplied a Distributed Temperature Sensing (DTS) system with robust borehole cables. The system uses fiber optic cables to measure temperature accurately and continuously. This setup promises to provide reliable data over several years, even in challenging underground conditions.
Results
With the Distributed Temperature Sensing (DTS) system, KU Leuven researchers startcollecting detailed temperature data to (1) gain insights in natural regeneration of the underground, (2) validate borefield models, (3) optimize the system integrator that selects the best operation mode over seasons. This will finally lead to higher system performance that can be translated in higher energy efficiency, higher share of renewable energy sources, more sustainable use of the underground, lower cost (investment and operation), future-proof systems and lower CO2 emissions. Since replication is part of the SEEDS project, the lessons learnt from this pilot site will help the SEEDS project to develop even better clean collective hybrid cluster systems applicable all over Europe.
Acknowledgements
This study has been made possible by Fluves (DTS system supplier and installer), Mintus Brugge (property owner), Celcio (heating and cooling system installer), Climadrill (boreholes driller), Sweco Belgium (engineering), Builtwins (integrated control), Daikin Europe (heat pump manufacturer), KU Leuven (research), HEU (funding), Wim Boydens (one of the initiative takers).
More Information
Find more information about the project via: https://project-seeds.eu
This project is co-funded by the European Union's Horizon Europe innovation actions programme under the Grant Agreement n°101138211. Views and opinions expressed are however those of the author(s) only and do not necessarily reflect those of the European Union or CINEA. Neither the European Union nor the granting authority can be held responsible for them.
