Analyzing the Feasibility of Using Shallow Geothermal Energy to Prohibit Pavement Thermal Cracking: Field Testing
Publication: Geo-Congress 2023
ABSTRACT
This study provides insight into the application of geothermal energy to prevent thermal cracking in concrete pavements and bridge decks that may occur due to the high-temperature gradient. Two full-scale shallow geothermal boreholes were installed on the University of Louisville campus. U-shaped heat exchanger tubes were embedded inside both boreholes, and two demo bridge decks have been cast with concrete. Both geothermal boreholes are connected through a small trench to the demo bridge decks. A water/antifreeze mixture is circulated inside the heat exchanger tube, and the system solely depends on the constant ground temperature. Unlike the severe changes in ambient air temperature, the embedded tube showed an almost stable temperature. Temperature variations of the demo bridge deck connected to the geothermal borehole were limited and close to a near-constant ground temperature. Results confirm that a geothermal system can be used to cool the pavement surface even during hot summer days by reducing the temperature gradient in concrete, which may, in turn, reduce the risk of thermal cracking.
Get full access to this article
View all available purchase options and get full access to this chapter.
REFERENCES
Aschenbrener, T. 1995. Investigation of low temperature thermal cracking in hot mix asphalt.
Bahnick, R., Joshaghani, M., Ghasemi-Fare, O., and Sun, Z. 2020. Exploring the curing condition and age effect on thermal conductivity of concrete, E3S Web of Conferences. EDP Sciences, p. 06012.
Behnia, B., Buttlar, W., and Reis, H. 2018. Evaluation of Low-Temperature Cracking Performance of Asphalt Pavements Using Acoustic Emission: A Review. Applied Sciences 8, 306.
Behnia, B., Buttlar, W. G., and Reis, H. M. 2017. Nondestructive Low-Temperature Cracking Characterization of Asphalt Materials. Journal of Materials in Civil Engineering 29, 04016294.
Brandl, H. 2006. Energy foundations and other thermo-active ground structures. Geotechnique 56, 81–122.
Cherati, D. Y., and Ghasemi-Fare, O. 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 140, 110748.
Ghasemi-Fare, O., and Basu, P. 2013a. An Annular Cylinder Source Model for Heat Transfer through Energy Piles. Compendium of papers of the 92nd Transportation Research Board (TRB) Annual Meeting, Washington, D.C., January 13-17.
Ghasemi-Fare, O., and Basu, P. 2013b. A practical heat transfer model for geothermal piles. Energy and Buildings 66, 470–479.
Ghasemi-Fare, O., and Basu, P. 2016a. Predictive assessment of heat exchange performance of geothermal piles. Renewable energy 86, 1178–1196.
Ghasemi-Fare, O., and Basu, P. 2016b. Thermally-induced pore pressure fluctuations around a geothermal pile in sand. Geo-Chicago, GSP 270, 14–18.
Ghasemi-Fare, O., and Basu, P. 2018. Influences of ground saturation and thermal boundary condition on energy harvesting using geothermal piles. Energy and Buildings 165, 340–351.
Ghasemi-Fare, O., and Basu, P. 2019. Coupling heat and buoyant fluid flow for thermal performance assessment of geothermal piles. Computers and Geotechnics 116, 103211.
Ghasemi-Fare, O., Bowers, G. A., Kramer, C. A., Ozudogru, T. Y., Basu, P., Olgun, C. G., Bulbul, T., and Sutman, M. 2015. A Feasibility Study of Bridge Deck Deicing Using Geothermal Energy. National Technical Information Service, Alexandria, VA United States; Accession Number: 01570326.
Johnston, I., Narsilio, G., and Colls, S. 2011. Emerging geothermal energy technologies. KSCE Journal of Civil Engineering 15, 643–653.
Kim, M.-J., Lee, S.-R., Yoon, S., and Go, G.-H. 2016. Thermal performance evaluation and parametric study of a horizontal ground heat exchanger. Geothermics 60, 134–143.
Kim, Y. R. 2009. Modeling of asphalt concrete.
Tamizdoust, M. M., and Ghasemi-Fare, O. 2020. A fully coupled thermo-poro-mechanical finite element analysis to predict the thermal pressurization and thermally induced pore fluid flow in soil media. Computers and Geotechnics 117, 103250.
Yoon, S., Lee, S.-R., Xue, J., Zosseder, K., Go, G.-H., and Park, H., 2015. Evaluation of the thermal efficiency and a cost analysis of different types of ground heat exchangers in energy piles. Energy Conversion and Management 105, 393–402.
Information & Authors
Information
Published In
Geo-Congress 2023
Pages: 603 - 611
History
Published online: Mar 23, 2023
Authors
Metrics & Citations
Metrics
Citations
Download citation
If you have the appropriate software installed, you can download article citation data to the citation manager of your choice. Simply select your manager software from the list below and click Download.
Cited by
- Ethan Turner, Mohammad Khosravi, Kirsten Matteson, Kathryn Plymesser, Pooria Toomani, Ladean McKittrick, Jeff Jackson, Application of Geothermal Bridge Deck Deicing Systems to Mitigate Concrete Deterioration from Temperature Fluctuation: Model Scale Experiments, Journal of Bridge Engineering, 10.1061/JBENF2.BEENG-6795, 29, 8, (2024).
- Amin Mohammadzadeh, Omid Ghasemi-Fare, Zhihui Sun, Mark McGinley, Exploring the Use of Geothermal Piles as an Environmentally Sustainable Method to De-Ice Bridge Decks through Field-Scale Experiment, Geo-Congress 2024, 10.1061/9780784485330.076, (751-759), (2024).
- Amin Mohammadzadeh, Omid Ghasemi-Fare, Thermo-Hydro-Mechanical Modeling of Opalinus Clay in a Hollow Cylinder Triaxial Cell, Geo-Congress 2024, 10.1061/9780784485309.053, (519-527), (2024).