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Geothermal pavements: field observations, numerical modelling and long-term performance
- Source :
- Géotechnique. 72:832-846
- Publication Year :
- 2022
- Publisher :
- Thomas Telford Ltd., 2022.
-
Abstract
- Geothermal pavement systems are a novel type of energy geostructure. They use sub-surface structures to exchange heat with the ground and, thereby, provide thermal energy in addition to structural support. The thermo-activation of pavements has been largely overlooked in the literature. This research focuses on the development of a detailed three-dimensional (3D) finite-element (FE) model to explore the thermal performance of geothermal pavement systems. The 3D FE model developed was successfully validated with both data measured from a full-scale experiment undertaken in Adelaide, South Australia and other published data. The validated model is further employed to evaluate the long-term performance of a geothermal pavement system under both a traditional system configuration and a hybrid system. Furthermore, a life-cycle cost analysis is performed to explore the cost implication of such pavement systems. Results show that a geothermal pavement with total pipe length of 640 m, or a hybrid system (a geothermal pavement system with a pipe length of 320 m and an auxiliary system) can provide for sufficient space heating and cooling for a typical residential building in Australia. It is found that, compared with conventional heating and cooling systems, the geothermal pavement system is indeed a cost-effective solution. This research study indicates that this pavement technology can be successfully implemented in the field and accurately modelled using FE techniques.
- Subjects :
- Field (physics)
Petroleum engineering
business.industry
020209 energy
0211 other engineering and technologies
02 engineering and technology
Geotechnical Engineering and Engineering Geology
Term (time)
0202 electrical engineering, electronic engineering, information engineering
Earth and Planetary Sciences (miscellaneous)
Environmental science
business
Geothermal gradient
Energy (signal processing)
Thermal energy
021101 geological & geomatics engineering
Subjects
Details
- ISSN :
- 17517656 and 00168505
- Volume :
- 72
- Database :
- OpenAIRE
- Journal :
- Géotechnique
- Accession number :
- edsair.doi...........bb95c205ab05f7e7b617c1c2c37d83f5