Assessment of Thermally Enhanced Geo-Energy Piles and Walls

Abstract

Geo-energy piles and walls have long been recognized as a promising way to reduce carbon dioxide emissions while providing renewable energy. However, enhancing the thermal performance of these structures has remained a signif-icant challenge. This thesis evaluated five different approaches to improving the thermal performance of geo-energy piles and walls, through a series of experiments using a fully instrumented testing rig. The first approach involved adding graphTHERM powder to concrete to double its thermal conductivity, boosting heat transfer efficiency by an impressive 50% to 66%. The second approach tested slag-based geopolymer concrete as a sustainable construc-tion material for geo-energy piles and walls, reducing CO2 emissions by 44.5% while improving thermal performance by 14% to 21%. The third approach in-volved testing thermally enhanced soils at the geo-energy structures/soil inter-face, resulting in an 81% improvement in heat transfer efficiency. The fourth approach utilized innovative phase change material (PCM) heat exchangers that increased heat transfer efficiency by 75% and 43% in heating and cooling operations, respectively. Finally, incorporated PCM-impregnated light weight aggregates at the interface of the structure soil, significantly increasing tem-perature difference and reducing thermal deformation of geo-energy struc-tures.Overall, these innovative approaches made a significant contribution to enhancing the thermal performance of geo-energy piles and walls. However, approaches four and five, which involve utilizing PCM heat exchangers and PCM-impregnated LWA's, respectively, showed extra benefits in dropping the thermal effect on soils and reducing the thermal damage on those structures. These techniques offer great promise for improving the thermal performance of geo-energy structures.