Appendix A

Software Used in this Book

A.1 The GHX Tool Box

The GHX Tool Box is a suite of design tools developed by the author to facilitate the study of
geothermal heat pump systems. The tools are developed for use in Excel, and include several
Visual Basic macros and subroutines. These design tools are meant to be used in conjunction
with topics in this book to allow users of the book to apply fundamental principles and solve
real-world problems. The Tool Box includes spreadsheets to solve problems related to:

• Eskilson’s line source,

• borehole thermal resistance (single U-tube, double U-tube, concentric),
• horizontal trench thermal resistance (two-pipe, four-pipe, six-pipe),
• pressure drop in pipes,
• groundwater heat exchange design,
• vertical ground heat exchanger design (with simple load input),
• vertical ground heat exchanger design and simulation with hybrid options (with detailed
load input),
• horizontal ground heat exchanger design,
• Earth tube simulation, and
• surface water heat exchanger simulation.

A.2 Engineering Equation Solver (EES)

Several examples in this book are solved using EES, particularly those requiring iterative solu-
tion and use of thermodynamic property data.

Geothermal Heat Pump and Heat Engine Systems: Theory and Practice, First Edition. Andrew D. Chiasson.
© 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. Published 2016 by John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Companion website: www.wiley.com/go/chiasson/geoHPSTP
446 Appendix A

EES (pronounced ‘ease’) is available through http://www.fchart.com/ees/. It is also packaged

and available with many other textbooks. According to the developer, EES is a general equation-
solving program that can numerically solve thousands of coupled non-linear algebraic and dif-
ferential equations. The program can also be used to solve differential and integral equations, do
optimization, provide uncertainty analyses, perform linear and non-linear regression, convert
units, check unit consistency, and generate publication-quality plots. A major feature of EES
is the high accuracy thermodynamic and transport property database that is provided for hun-
dreds of substances in a manner that allows it to be used with the equation solving capability.
Several video tutorials are available on the EES website.

A.3 Installing and Using the Excel Solver for Optimization Problems
What is the Excel Solver?
The Excel Solver is an analysis tool that allows users to solve optimization problems.
In mathematics, computer science, or management science, mathematical optimization
(alternatively, optimization or mathematical programming) is the selection of a best element
(with regard to some criteria) from some set of available alternatives. In the simplest case,
an optimization problem consists of maximizing or minimizing a real function by systematic-
ally choosing input values from within an allowed set and computing the value of the function.
The generalization of optimization theory and techniques to other formulations comprises a
large area of applied mathematics. More generally, optimization includes finding ‘best avail-
able’ values of some objective function given a defined domain, including a variety of different
types of objective function and different types of domain.

Installing the Excel Solver

The Solver is an Add-in program that was installed at the time of Microsoft Office Installation.
However, to use it, you must load it.
To load the Solver Add-in:

Click the Microsoft Office Button , and then click Excel Options.
Click Add-Ins, and then in the Manage box, select Excel Add-ins.
Click Go.
In the Add-Ins available box, select the Solver Add-in check box, and then click OK.
If you get prompted that the Solver Add-in is not currently installed on your computer, click
Yes to install it.
After you load the Solver Add-in, the Solver command is available in the Analysis group on the
Data tab.

Using the Excel Solver

An optimization model has three parts: the target cell, the changing cells, and the constraints.
For the inverse modeling problem described in Section 3.4.2, the Solver dialog box is shown in
Figure A.1 below.
Appendix A 447

In Figure A.1, cell $N$3 is specified as the target cell, and that is the cell where the sum of
squared errors is located. Notice that the Min button is selected to specify that the target cell
value is to be minimized.
The Changing Cells are specified as k and Resistance. Note here the use of meaningful
Excel cell labeling. Any cell can be given a convenient name, which is especially helpful when
programming numerous equations. Figure A.2 shows how to change cell names.

Figure A.1 Solver dialog box for a thermal response test analysis

Figure A.2 How to change a cell label in Excel