• Journal of the Korean Society for Geothermal and Hydrothermal Energy
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• v.15 no.2
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• pp.1-9
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• 2019

In a ground-source heat pump (GSHP) system, a vertical ground heat exchanger (GHE) is widely accepted due to a higher thermal performance. In the vertical GHE, grout (also called grouting material) plays an important role in the heat transfer performance and the initial installation cost of the GHE. Bentonite-based grout has been used in practice because of its high swelling potential and low hydraulic conductivity. This study evaluated the thermo-physical properties of the bentonite-based grouts through lab-scale measurements. In addition, we conducted performance simulation to analyze the effect of mixed ratio of grouts on the design length and thermal performance of the vertical GHE. The simulation results show that thermally-enhanced grouts improve the heat transfer performance of the vertical GHE and thus reduce the design length of GHE pipe.

• Proceedings of the Korean Geotechical Society Conference
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• 2008.03a
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• pp.533-544
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• 2008

To obtain the physical properties of grout materials, that is the thermal conductivity and viscosity, which are used for backfilling ground heat exchangers, nine bentonite grouts and cement grouts being adapted in the United State have been considered in this study. The bentonite grouts show that the thermal conductivity and viscosity increase with the content of bentonite or filler (silica sand). The saturated cement grouts appear to possess much higher thermal conductivity than the saturated bentonite grouts, and the reduction of thermal conductivity in the cement grouts after drying specimens is less than the case of the bentonite grouts. To investigate the performance of cement grouts, fifteen samples were prepared by varying the water/cement ratio and the amount of sand and bentonite added into the cement mortar. Maintaining the moisture content of grouts is a crucial factor in enhancing the efficiency of ground heat exchangers.

• Proceedings of the Korean Geotechical Society Conference
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• 2010.09a
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• pp.800-807
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• 2010

In this study, a series of numerical analyses has been performed in order to evaluate the performance of a full-scale closed-loop vertical ground heat exchanger constructed in Wonju. The circulation pipe HDPE, borehole and surrounding ground were modeled using FLUENT, a finite-volume method (FVM) program, for analyzing the heat transfer process of the system. Two user-defined functions (UDFs) accounting for the difference in the temperatures of the circulating inflow and outflow water and the change of the surrounding ground temperature with depth were adopted in the FLUENT model. The thermal properties of materials estimated in laboratory were used in the numerical analyses to compare the thermal efficiency of the cement grout with that of the bentonite grout used in the construction. The results of the simulation provide a verification of the in situ thermal response test data. The numerical model with the ground thermal conductivity of 4W/mK yielded the simulation result closer to the in-situ thermal response test than with the ground thermal conductivity of 3W/mK. From the results of the numerical analyses, the effective thermal conductivities of the cement and bentonite grouts were obtained to be 3.32W/mK and 2.99 W/mK, respectively.

• Proceedings of the SAREK Conference
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• 2007.11a
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• pp.429-433
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• 2007

Cement mortar and concrete can be used as grouts but problems regarding shrinkage and the discord of coefficients of thermal expansion between grouts and HDPE pipes has to be solved. Thermal conductivities of wet condition two times larger than those of dry condition, except for pure cement mortar. The addition of sand into the cement grouts greatly increases the thermal conductivity. The addition of bentonite into the cement grouts reduces thermal conductivity thus reducing the density. Bentonite grouting must be used only below the groundwater table since bentonite grouts possesses high shrinkage property in dry condition. The addition of sand prevents the shrinkage of bentonite grouts. Bentonite manufactured in Korea can be used since they possess similar thermal conductivities with imported products. The addition of sand into the bentonite grouts greatly increases the thermal conductivity.

• Journal of the Korean Geotechnical Society
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• v.26 no.12
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• pp.19-30
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• 2010

Bentonite-based grout has been widely used to seal a borehole constructed for a closed-loop vertical ground heat exchanger in a geothermal heat pump system (GHP) because of its high swelling potential and low hydraulic conductivity. Three types of bentonites were compared one another in terms of viscosity and thermal conductivity in this paper. The viscosity and thermal conductivity of the grouts with bentonite contents of 5%, 10%, 15%, 20% and 25% by weight were examined to take into account a variable water content of bentonite grout depending on field conditions. To evaluate the effect of salinity (i.e., concentration of NaCl : 0.1M, 0.25M, and 0.5M) on swelling potential of the bentonite-based grouts, a series of volume reduction tests were performed. In addition, if the viscosity of bentonite-water mixture is relatively low, particle segregation can occur. To examine the segregation phenomenon, the degree of segregation has been evaluated for the bentonite grouts especially in case of relatively low viscosity. From the experimental results, it is found that (1) the viscosity of the bentonite mixture increased with time and/or with increasing the mixing ratio. However, the thermal conductivity of the bentonite mixture did not increase with time but increased with increasing the mixing ratio; (2) If bentonite grout has a relatively high swelling index, the volume reduction ratio in the saline condition will be low; (3) The additive, such as a silica sand, can settle down on the bottom of the borehole if the bentonite has a very low viscosity. Consequently, the thermal conductivity of the upper portion of the ground heat exchanger will be much smaller than that of the lower portion.

• Journal of the Korean Solar Energy Society
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• v.33 no.1
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• pp.66-72
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• 2013

In this study, the thermal conductive characteristics and basic properties of the nine commercial products of bentonite grouts were studied. Six of the nine products for ground heat exchanger systems are imported and others for civil engineering are domestic. The thermal conductivities of all bentonite products are nearly similar among products. The free swell indexes, viscosities and filter losses of the ground heat exchanger grouts are lower than those of the civil engineering ones. These characteristics seem to increase of the fluidity to fill the bentonite slurry to bore-hall perfectly, rather than to prevent underground water penetration. Thus, the mixtures of bentonites and sands are recommended for high thermal conduction grouts.

• Proceedings of the SAREK Conference
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• 2006.06a
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• pp.713-718
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• 2006

This paper concerns the measurement of thermal conductivity of grouting materials for ground loop heat exchanger. A thermal conductivity meter, QTM-500 based on modified transient hot wire method was used to measure the thermal conductivity of neat bentonite and mixtures of bentonite and various additives. Relative to the total mixture mass, as the percent additive was increased the mixture thermal conductivity increased. For the bentonite-silica sand mixtures, the higher density of the sand particles resulted in much higher mixture thermal conductivity.

• Journal of the Korean Geotechnical Society
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• v.24 no.1
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• pp.37-49
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• 2008

A geothermal heat pump system is a preferable alternative energy system in Korea because it uses the heat energy of the earth, which is environmentally friendly and inexhaustible. In order to characterize the thermal conductivity and viscosity of grout materials used for backfilling ground heat exchangers, nine bentonite grouts, one marine clay from Boryung, and cement grouts adapted in the United State have been considered in this study. The bentonite grouts indicate that the thermal conductivity and viscosity increase with the content of bentonite or filler (silica sand). In addition, material segregation can be observed when the viscosity of grout is relatively low. The marine clay turns out to be unsuitable for backfilling the ground heat exchanger due to its insufficient swelling potential. The saturated cement grouts appear to possess much higher thermal conductivity than the saturated bentonite grouts, and the reduction of thermal conductivity in the cement grouts after drying specimens is less than that in the case of the bentonite grouts. Maintaining the moisture content of grouts is a crucial factor in enhancing the efficiency of ground heat exchangers.

• Proceedings of the Korean Geotechical Society Conference
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• 2008.10a
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• pp.1475-1486
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• 2008

Bentonite-based grouting has been popularly used to seal a borehole installed for a closed-loop vertical ground heat exchanger in a geothermal heat pump system (GHP) because its high swelling potential. However, if the bentonite-based grouting is conducted in coastal areas, the salinity of groundwater changes in the mineral fabric of bentontie. In order words, an increase of cation concentration in groundwater leads to a reduction in the diffuse double-layer thickness in the bentonite mineral structure, and thus the volume of bentointe-based grouts will decrease proportional to the salinity of groundwater. In this paper, the effect of salinity (i.e., NaCl 0.5M, 0.25M, and 0.1M) on the change of swelling potential for bentonite-based grouts has been quantitatively evaluated for seven bentonite grouts from different product sources. In addition, in case of using addictives such as a silica sand to increase the thermal conductivity of bentonite-based grouts, the possibility of particle segregation has been studied considering the viscosity of grouts and salinity of groundwater.

• Journal of Soil and Groundwater Environment
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• v.14 no.4
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• pp.10-14
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• 2009

Objective of this study was to examine the effects of grouts and temperature change on microorganisms in geothermal heat pump. Groundwater samples were obtained from wells in the heat pump system during installation (Oriental medicine hospital) and in the heat pump system under operation (Business incubation center). Grouts are the volclay sodium bentonite. Real-time PCR was used to evaluate total bacterial number and 16S rDNA. The results showed that total bacterial number of groundwater in the heat pump operation was greater than that of non-operation case, which indicates a temperature effect on the bacterial culture. In addition, high concentration of grout showed an elevated bacteria number. In the mean time, a long-term field monitoring is essentially required to confirm the effects of the grouts and the temperature changes.