IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/renene/v147y2020ip2p2618-2632.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Response of unsaturated soils to heating of geothermal energy pile

Author

Listed:
  • Sani, Abubakar Kawuwa
  • Singh, Rao Martand

Abstract

Geothermal energy piles (GEPs) are an environmentally friendly heat exchange technology that dualizes the role of structural foundation pile for load support and in meeting the building heating/cooling need. Energy loops made from high-density polyethylene which allow heat carrier fluid circulation, are fitted into the pile foundation elements to extract or inject and store heat energy in the soil surrounding the pile. This paper reports the results of a numerical study investigating the response of an energy pile embedded in unsaturated soils (sand, silt and clay) to natural thermal recovery, after heat injection process. It was found that the increase in soil saturation, duration of heating operation i.e. intermittent (8 or 16 h heating) or continuous mode, magnitude of the heat injection rates influences the temperature changes in the soil surrounding the pile, consequently impacting on the system performance. Similarly, it was observed that temperature at all location approached initial state in a duration equal to about twice that of the heating time. In addition, it was found that imposing excessive heat flux on the pile results in the drying up of the surrounding soil leading to lower thermal conductivity thus decreasing the overall GEP system performance.

Suggested Citation

  • Sani, Abubakar Kawuwa & Singh, Rao Martand, 2020. "Response of unsaturated soils to heating of geothermal energy pile," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 147(P2), pages 2618-2632.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:renene:v:147:y:2020:i:p2:p:2618-2632
    DOI: 10.1016/j.renene.2018.11.032
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S096014811831351X
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.renene.2018.11.032?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Cecinato, Francesco & Loveridge, Fleur A., 2015. "Influences on the thermal efficiency of energy piles," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 82(C), pages 1021-1033.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Zhi Chen & Bo Wang & Lifei Zheng & Henglin Xiao & Jingquan Wang, 2021. "Research on Heat Exchange Law and Structural Design Optimization of Deep Buried Pipe Energy Piles," Energies, MDPI, vol. 14(20), pages 1-19, October.
    2. Wang, Zhongjin & Jin, Kunquan & Xia, Changqing & Xu, Xiao & Cui, Hongzhi & Chen, Xiangsheng, 2024. "Influence of silicon carbide incorporation on the macroscale and microscale heat transfer characteristics of energy piles," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 237(PB).
    3. Cunha, R.P. & Bourne-Webb, P.J., 2022. "A critical review on the current knowledge of geothermal energy piles to sustainably climatize buildings," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 158(C).
    4. Cherati, Davood Yazdani & Ghasemi-Fare, Omid, 2021. "Practical approaches for implementation of energy piles in Iran based on the lessons learned from the developed countries experiences," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 140(C).
    5. Abubakar Kawuwa Sani & Rao Martand Singh, 2021. "Long-Term Thermal Performance of Group of Energy Piles in Unsaturated Soils under Cyclic Thermal Loading," Energies, MDPI, vol. 14(14), pages 1-28, July.
    6. Ma, Qijie & Wang, Peijun & Fan, Jianhua & Klar, Assaf, 2022. "Underground solar energy storage via energy piles: An experimental study," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 306(PB).
    7. Bao, Xiaohua & Qi, Xuedong & Cui, Hongzhi & Tang, Waiching & Chen, Xiangsheng, 2022. "Experimental study on thermal response of a PCM energy pile in unsaturated clay," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 185(C), pages 790-803.
    8. Cao, Ziming & Zhang, Guozhu & Liu, Yiping & Zhao, Xu & Li, Chenglin, 2022. "Influence of backfilling phase change material on thermal performance of precast high-strength concrete energy pile," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 184(C), pages 374-390.
    9. Najafian Jazi, Fereydoun & Ghasemi-Fare, Omid & Rockaway, Thomas D., 2024. "Understanding the impact of flow mechanisms in unsaturated layer on heat transfer near a partially submerged geothermal heat exchanger," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 235(C).

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Jackson, Matthew D. & Regnier, Geraldine & Staffell, Iain, 2024. "Aquifer Thermal Energy Storage for low carbon heating and cooling in the United Kingdom: Current status and future prospects," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 376(PA).
    2. Zhou, Yang & Wang, Jinyun & Li, Chong & Kong, Gangqiang & Li, Renrong, 2024. "Thermal interference process between two energy piles in 2D model using transparent soil," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 308(C).
    3. Ana Vieira & Maria Alberdi-Pagola & Paul Christodoulides & Saqib Javed & Fleur Loveridge & Frederic Nguyen & Francesco Cecinato & João Maranha & Georgios Florides & Iulia Prodan & Gust Van Lysebetten , 2017. "Characterisation of Ground Thermal and Thermo-Mechanical Behaviour for Shallow Geothermal Energy Applications," Energies, MDPI, vol. 10(12), pages 1-51, December.
    4. M.F, Yozy Kepdib & R.M, Singh & C, Madiai & J.A, Facciorusso, 2025. "Heating and cooling geothermal systems in urban settings: The potential of energy micropiles," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 208(C).
    5. Gao, Jiajia & Li, Anbang & Xu, Xinhua & Gang, Wenjie & Yan, Tian, 2018. "Ground heat exchangers: Applications, technology integration and potentials for zero energy buildings," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 128(PA), pages 337-349.
    6. Somogyi, Viola & Sebestyén, Viktor & Nagy, Georgina, 2017. "Scientific achievements and regulation of shallow geothermal systems in six European countries – A review," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 68(P2), pages 934-952.
    7. Bao, Xiaohua & Qi, Xuedong & Cui, Hongzhi & Tang, Waiching & Chen, Xiangsheng, 2022. "Experimental study on thermal response of a PCM energy pile in unsaturated clay," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 185(C), pages 790-803.
    8. Alberdi-Pagola, Maria & Poulsen, Søren Erbs & Jensen, Rasmus Lund & Madsen, Søren, 2020. "A case study of the sizing and optimisation of an energy pile foundation (Rosborg, Denmark)," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 147(P2), pages 2724-2735.
    9. Li, Renrong & Kong, Gangqiang & Sun, Guangchao & Zhou, Yang & Yang, Qing, 2021. "Thermomechanical characteristics of an energy pile-raft foundation under heating operations," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 175(C), pages 580-592.
    10. Pan, Aiqiang & McCartney, John S. & Lu, Lin & You, Tian, 2020. "A novel analytical multilayer cylindrical heat source model for vertical ground heat exchangers installed in layered ground," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 200(C).
    11. Andrea Ferrantelli & Jevgeni Fadejev & Jarek Kurnitski, 2019. "Energy Pile Field Simulation in Large Buildings: Validation of Surface Boundary Assumptions," Energies, MDPI, vol. 12(5), pages 1-20, February.
    12. Ogunleye, Oluwaseun & Singh, Rao Martand & Cecinato, Francesco & Chan Choi, Jung, 2020. "Effect of intermittent operation on the thermal efficiency of energy tunnels under varying tunnel air temperature," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 146(C), pages 2646-2658.
    13. Cunha, R.P. & Bourne-Webb, P.J., 2022. "A critical review on the current knowledge of geothermal energy piles to sustainably climatize buildings," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 158(C).
    14. Aresti, Lazaros & Alvi, Maria Romana & Cecinato, Francesco & Fan, Tao & Halaj, Elzbieta & Li, Zili & Okhay, Olena & Poulsen, Soren Erbs & Quiroga, Sonia & Suarez, Cristina & Tang, Anh Minh & Valancius, 2024. "Energy geo-structures: A review of their integration with other sources and its limitations," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 230(C).
    15. Dai, Quanwei & Rotta Loria, Alessandro F. & Choo, Jinhyun, 2022. "Effects of internal airflows on the heat exchange potential and mechanics of energy walls," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 197(C), pages 1069-1080.
    16. Zhao, Qiang & Chen, Baoming & Tian, Maocheng & Liu, Fang, 2018. "Investigation on the thermal behavior of energy piles and borehole heat exchangers: A case study," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 162(C), pages 787-797.
    17. Cao, Ziming & Zhang, Guozhu & Liu, Yiping & Zhao, Xu & Li, Chenglin, 2022. "Influence of backfilling phase change material on thermal performance of precast high-strength concrete energy pile," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 184(C), pages 374-390.
    18. Pei, Huafu & Song, Huaibo & Meng, Fanhua & Liu, Weiling, 2022. "Long-term thermomechanical displacement prediction of energy piles using machine learning techniques," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 195(C), pages 620-636.
    19. Georgiadis, Konstantinos & Skordas, Dimitrios & Kamas, Ioannis & Comodromos, Emilios, 2020. "Heating and cooling induced stresses and displacements in heat exchanger piles in sand," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 147(P2), pages 2599-2617.
    20. Kuang, He Wei & Ai, Zhi Yong & Ye, Zi Kun, 2025. "Multi-dimensional prediction and factor analysis of thermal performance for energy piles," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 240(C).

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:renene:v:147:y:2020:i:p2:p:2618-2632. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.journals.elsevier.com/renewable-energy .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.