Black, J.A. and Tatari, A. (2015) Transparent soil to model thermal processes: An energy pile example. Geotech Testing journal, 38 (5). pp. 752-764. ISSN 0149-6115
Abstract
Managing energy resources is fast becoming a crucial issue of the 21st century, with groundbased heat exchange energy structures targeted as a viable means of reducing carbon emissions associated with regulating building temperatures. Limited information exists about the thermo-dynamic interactions of geothermal structures and soil owing to the practical constraints of placing measurement sensors in proximity to foundations; hence, questions remain about their long-term performance and interaction mechanics. An alternative experimental method using transparent soil and digital image analysis was proposed to visualize heat flow in soil. Advocating the loss of optical clarity as a beneficial attribute of transparent soil, this paper explored the hypothesis that temperature change will alter its refractive index and therefore progressively reduce its transparency, becoming more opaque. The development of the experimental methodology was discussed and a relationship between pixel intensity and soil temperature was defined and verified. This relationship was applied to an energy pile example to demonstrate heat flow in soil. The heating zone of influence was observed to extend to a radial distance of 1.5 pile diameters and was differentiated by a visual thermal gradient propagating from the pile. The successful implementation of this technique provided a new paradigm for transparent soil to potentially contribute to the understanding of thermo-dynamic processes in soil.
Metadata
Item Type: | Article |
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Authors/Creators: |
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Copyright, Publisher and Additional Information: | © 2015 ASTM. Reproduced in accordance with the publisher's self-archiving policy. |
Keywords: | transparent soil; thermal modeling; energy pile; energy; image analysis |
Dates: |
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Institution: | The University of Sheffield |
Academic Units: | The University of Sheffield > Faculty of Engineering (Sheffield) > Department of Civil and Structural Engineering (Sheffield) |
Depositing User: | Symplectic Sheffield |
Date Deposited: | 05 Jan 2018 13:36 |
Last Modified: | 05 Jan 2018 13:41 |
Published Version: | https://doi.org/10.1520/GTJ20140215 |
Status: | Published |
Publisher: | ASTM International |
Refereed: | Yes |
Identification Number: | 10.1520/GTJ20140215 |
Open Archives Initiative ID (OAI ID): | oai:eprints.whiterose.ac.uk:125614 |