courtesy image
Heat pumps at Benelux APS sites to tap energy from underground
By Mark Fricke, USAG Benelux energy manager
BRUNSSUM, Netherlands – October is Energy Action Month and this year's theme, “Power to Win,” emphasizes the importance the Army places on energy resilience – or uninterrupted access to energy.
The Army is modernizing installation and operational energy and water programs, technology and infrastructure to increase its ability to support multi-domain operations. Through diligent energy management, Army installations can become robust and resilient power projection platforms where service members live, train and work.
Within the garrison’s Army prepositioned stock (APS-2) site footprint modernization is also ongoing. Where needed, the buildings are receiving extra insulation, LED lighting, radiant heat panels, heat pumps and state-of-the-art ground source heat pumps.
At one of APS-2 locations, the garrison is upgrading a maintenance facility for a mission partner. To make infrastructure more resilient, this building will also receive a closed loop ground source heat pump.
This heat pump will be used to moderate the temperature of the intake air during summer and winter and will provide the optimal and resilient working environment the mission partner requires. Besides being more durable and highly reliable, it also uses less energy than a conventional heat pump.
The graphic here gives a good idea of the working principle of this system. The easiest way to grasp the operational concept of a ground source heat pump is to look at the ground underneath the APS-2 sites as a huge battery. In winter the garrison can absorb the heat underground to warm the building by using a heat pump (compressor). And since the garrison extracted the heat out of the ground in winter (the battery is empty) the garrison can in turn recharge the ground with the heat extracted from the building’s interior during the summer.