• 한국신재생에너지학회:학술대회논문집
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• 2007.11a
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• pp.511-514
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• 2007

This study was performed to construct a geothermal data base about thermal conductivity of ground heat exchanger and thermal properties of grouting material which used to refill the borehole. We have acquired geothermal data sets from 39 sites over wide area of South Korea except to Jeju island. From data analysis, the range of thermal conductivity is $1.5{\sim}4.0$ W/mK. It means that thermal conductivity varies with grouting material as well as regional geology and ground water system.

• 한국신재생에너지학회:학술대회논문집
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• 2005.11a
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• pp.587-590
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• 2005

A detailed geothermal characteristics survey with numerical simulations of the heat transfer in a site for ground source heat pump system is necessary for deploying a shallow geothermal utilization system. Density, specific heat, thermal diffusivity, and thermal conductivity are measured on 91 core samples from a 300 m deep borehole in KIGAM(Korea Institute of Geoscience and Mineral Resources). The heat flow is estimated from the thermal gradient and average thermal conductivity and the correlation between fracture system and hydraulic conductivity is analyzed. From the obtained ground information of the study site the performance of the ground heat pump system can be analyzed with some detailed numerical simulations for seasonal heat pump operation skill and optimal system design techniques.

• Korean Journal of Air-Conditioning and Refrigeration Engineering
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• v.20 no.5
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• pp.342-350
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• 2008

This paper presents the results of a laboratory study on the thermal conductivity of sand (silica, quartzite, limestone and masonry sand)-water mixtures used in ground heat exchanger backfilling materials. Nearly 150 tests were performed in a thermal conductivity measuring system (TPSYS02) to characterize the relationships between the thermal conductivity of mixtures and the water content. The results show that the thermal conductivity of mixtures increases with increasing dry density and with increasing water content. The results also show that for constant water contents and a dry density value, the thermal conductivity of mixtures increases with increasing thermal conductivity of solid particles. The measurement results were also compared with the most widely used empirical prediction models for the thermal conductivity of soils.

• Journal of the Korean Society for Geothermal and Hydrothermal Energy
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• v.14 no.4
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• pp.35-42
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• 2018

Among the various ground source heat pump systems, vertical-type heat pump systems have been distributed greatly. Most of the vertical-type ground source heat pump systems have been designed based on the Korean Ministry of Knowledge Economy Announcement in Korea. In this study, the design process of the vertical-type ground source heat pump system in the announcement was analyzed, and the effects of the design parameters on the ground loop heat exchanger were investigated. Borehole thermal conductivity was the highest dominant design parameter for ground loop heat exchangers. The borehole thermal conductivity was changed according to the pipe and grout thermal conductivity. For optimal design of the ground heat pump system, it is highly recommended that the design process in the announcement will be revised to adopt the various tubes and grout which have higher thermal conductivity. In addition, the certification standard for heat pump unit should be revised to develop the heat pump with a small flow rate.

• 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.29 no.2
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• pp.5-14
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• 2013

Among the various thermal properties, thermal conductivity of soils is one of the most important parameters to design a horizontal ground heat exchanger for ground-coupled heat pump systems. It is well known that the thermal conductivity of soil is strongly influenced by its density and water content because of its particulate structure. This paper evaluates some of the well-known prediction models for the thermal conductivity of particulate media such as soils along with the experimental results. The semi-theoretical models for two-component materials were found inappropriate to estimate the thermal conductivity of dry soils. It comes out that the model developed by Cote and Konrad provides the best overall prediction for unsaturated sands available in the literature. Also, a parametric analysis is conducted to investigate the effect of thermal conductivity, water content and soil type on the horizontal ground heat exchanger design. The results show that a design pipe length for the horizontal ground heat exchanger can be reduced with an increase in soil thermal conductivity. The current research concludes that the dimension of the horizontal ground heat exchanger can be reduced to a certain extent by backfilling materials with a higher thermal conductivity of solid particles.

• Journal of the Korean Society for Geothermal and Hydrothermal Energy
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• v.8 no.1
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• pp.21-31
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• 2012

This paper reviewed and evaluated some of the commonly used prediction models for thermal conductivity of soils with the experimental data. Semi-theoretical models for two-component materials were found inappropriate to estimate the thermal conductivity of dry state soils. It came out that the model developed by Cote and Konrad gave the best overall prediction results for unsaturated soils available in the literature. However, it still needs to be improved to cover a wider range of soil types and degrees of saturation. In the present study, parametric analysis is also conducted to investigate the effect of soil type and moisture content on the horizontal ground heat exchanger design. The analysis shows that horizontal ground heat exchanger pipe length is reduced with the increase of soil thermal conductivity and water content. The calculation results also show that horizontal ground heat exchanger size can be reduced to a certain extent by using backfilling material with a higher thermal conductivity of solid particles.

• Journal of Industrial Technology
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• v.31 no.B
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• pp.27-36
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• 2011

In this paper, the applicability of cement grout has been studied as an alternative to bentonite grout for backfill ground heat exchangers. To provide an optimal mixture design, the thermal conductivity of cement grout and bentonite grout with various mixture ratios were experimentally evaluated and compared. Numerical analyses using Fluent(FVM program) were applied to compare the thermal transfer efficiency of the cement grout with that of the bentonite grout used in the construction. Also the effective ground thermal conductivity was measured by In-situ thermal response test. The results showed that the thermal efficiency of the cement grout was better than the bentonite grout. Consequently, the cement grout could be an alternative with more thermal efficiency to bentonite grout for ground heat exchangers.

• Korean Journal of Air-Conditioning and Refrigeration Engineering
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• v.20 no.11
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• pp.739-745
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• 2008

This paper presents the measurement of ground thermal conductivity and the characteristics of ground thermal diffusion by a ground heat exchanger(GHE). A borehole is installed to a depth of 175 m with a diameter of 150 mm. To analyze the thermal diffusion property of the GHE, thermocouples are installed under the ground near the GHE. The outdoor temperature, the ground temperature, and the water temperature of the GHE are monitored for evaluating the characteristics of ground thermal diffusion. The ground thermal conductivity is evaluated by the in-situ thermal response tester and the line source model. It is found to be 3.08 W/$m^{\circ}C$ in this study. The ground temperature is greatly dependent on the outdoor temperature from the ground surface to 2.5 m in depth and is stable below 10 m in depth. The surface temperature of the GHE varies as a function of the temperature of circulating water. But the ground temperature at 1.5 m far from the GHE is not changed in accordance with the temperature of circulating water.

• 한국신재생에너지학회:학술대회논문집
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• 2007.11a
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• pp.542-545
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• 2007

A semi-closed loop ground heat exchanger is proposed and its performance is compared through the measuring the effective thermal conductivity of the ground. In-situ tests based on the line source model are carried out to evaluate the thermal characteristics of each ground heat exchanger which has different penetration water flow rate. The test results show the increasing effective thermal conductivity of ground as the penetration water flow rate(PWFR) is increased. Therefore, the higher thermal performance of the proposed semi-closed ground heat exchanger can be expected.