Microbially induced calcite precipitation effect on soil thermal conductivity
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Author (Corporation)
Publication date
13.04.2016
Typ of student thesis
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Type
01A - Journal article
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Parent work
Géotechnique Letters
Special issue
DOI of the original publication
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Series
Series number
Volume
6
Issue / Number
1
Pages / Duration
39-44
Patent number
Publisher / Publishing institution
Emerald
Place of publication / Event location
Bingley
Edition
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Practice partner / Client
Abstract
Efficiency of energy piles is strongly affected by soil saturation conditions: low water contents considerably decrease their performance thus limiting the possibility to extend their application to arid environments. This paper investigates the microbially induced calcite precipitation (MICP) technique as a potential means of enhancing the soil–pile heat exchange rates by improving the thermal properties of soil. The study puts the focus on measuring the thermal conductivity of untreated and treaded sand at various degrees of saturation. Experimental results clearly show a significant improvement of the thermal conductivity of soil especially for low degrees of saturation. This enhancement is attributed to the mineralised calcite crystals acting as ‘thermal bridges’ between the soil grains, offering a larger surface area for heat exchange compared with the untreated material in which exchanges occur through smaller contact points.
Keywords
Soil saturation, Energy piles, Microbially induced calcite precipitation
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ISBN
ISSN
2045-2543
Language
English
Created during FHNW affiliation
No
Strategic action fields FHNW
Publication status
Published
Review
Peer review of the complete publication
Open access category
Closed
License
Citation
Venuleo, S., Laloui, L., Terzis, D., Hueckel, T., & Hassan, M. M. (2016). Microbially induced calcite precipitation effect on soil thermal conductivity. Géotechnique Letters, 6(1), 39–44. https://doi.org/10.1680/jgele.15.00125