COVID-19 Rapid Response: Advancement of a Minimally Invasive, Economical, Easy-to-install Geothermal Heat-Transfer Closed Piping System for Farmstead Applications

The project focus is on a ground source heating/cooling system for new or existing farmbuildings.Otisco Engineering has developed a unique "tube-in-tube" loopdesignmanifoldand installation method that will benefit farms.The unique system and installation methodprovides equivalent or superior heat transfer than conventional "vertical well/U-tube" methods ofgeothermal design.Our design also offers the following advantages.• Much easier to retrofit on a previously developed farm;• Causes little to no damage to existing landscaping or farm fields; and• For an existing 6000 square foot building (a typical farm building size) the system canbe installed and commissioned in two days.The project will include advancement of the design of a unique modularplastic injection moldedmanifold that can be easily assembled to customize to the number of heat exchanger groundloops.The installation method includes the use of these modular manifolds tube-in-tubearrangement and horizontal boring approach.The installed system will be verified by dataaquisition during the winter and summer heating/cooling periods.The measurement of flow andtemperature of individual loopswill provide the actual BTU sourced from the earth to verifysystem performance. The manifold design will be easier and more economical to install andreadily scalable to heat and cool multiple buildings on a farm.