Comprehensive analysis of a vertical ground-source heat pump for residential use in Mexico

Ground-source heat pumps are widely used around the world because of their capacity to provide renewable and emissions-free energy for residential use. A vertical ground-source heat pump in an air conditioner mode is studied experimentally and numerically. The geothermal heat pump is located in Mexico, and consists of a single U-tube of 100 m depth, with 41.16 m3 of conditioned space. A computational fluid dynamics analysis of the geothermal heat exchanger and a thermoeconomic analysis of the heat pump are developed to evaluate the thermal performance of the system under the weather conditions of Mexico, and to know the cost allocation per equipment of the system. Results show that the geothermal heat pump provides a comfort temperature with the minimum value of a comfort relative humidity; the most important temperature changes for the geothermal heat exchanger are present during the first 10 m depth; the system decreases its performance when operating in cities with hot ambient temperatures; the irreversibilities present in the system are small, and the cost of the components depends mainly on the capital investment. In addition, the coefficient of performance of the system is of 3.3–3.6. •A vertical ground-source geothermal heat pump is studied in Mexico.•Experimental, CFD, and thermoeconomic studies are developed for the heat pump.•The most important temperature changes of the soil are present during the first 10 m.•The HP provides a comfort temperature with the minimum of a comfort relative humidity.•The system’s performance decreases when operating in hot ambient temperatures.