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

• Economic and Environmental Geology
• /
• v.49 no.6
• /
• pp.459-467
• /
• 2016

Due to the limited areal space for installation, borehole heat exchangers (BHEs) at depths deeper than 300 m are considered for geothermal heating and cooling in the urban area. The deep vertical closed-loop BHEs are unconventional due to the depth and the range of the typical installation depth is between 100 and 200 m in Korea. The BHE in the study consists of 50A (outer diameter 50 mm, SDR 11) PE U-tube pipe in a 150 mm diameter borehole with the depth of 300 m. In order to compensate the buoyancy caused by the low density of PE pipe ($0.94{\sim}0.96g/cm^3$) in the borehole filled with ground water, 10 weight band sets (4.6 kg/set) were attached to the bottom of U-tube. A thermal response test (TRT) and fundamental basic surveys on the thermophysical characteristics of the ground were conducted. Ground temperature measures around $15^{\circ}C$ from the surface to 100 m, and the geothermal gradient represents $1.9^{\circ}C/100m$ below 100 m. The TRT was conducted for 48 hours with 17.5 kW heat injection, 28.65 l/min at a circulation fluid flow rate indicates an average temperature difference $8.9^{\circ}C$ between inlet and outlet circulation fluid. The estimated thermophysical parameters are 3.0 W/mk of ground thermal conductivity and 0.104 mk/W of borehole thermal resistance. In the stepwise evaluation of TRT, the ground thermal conductivity was calculated at the standard deviation of 0.16 after the initial 13 hours. The sensitivity analysis on the borehole thermal resistance was also conducted with respect to the PE pipe diameter and the thermal conductivity of backfill material. The borehole thermal resistivity slightly decreased with the increase of the two parameters.

• Journal of the Korean Geotechnical Society
• /
• v.26 no.7
• /
• pp.107-115
• /
• 2010

In this paper, the applicability of cement grout bas been studied as an alternative to bentontite grout to backfill ground heat exchangers. To provide an optimal mixture design, the groutabilty and thermal conductivity of cement grouts with various mixture ratios were experimentally evaluated and compared. The unconfined compression strength of cement grout specimen was measured, which was exposed to cyclic temperature variation ranging from $50^{\circ}C$ to $-5^{\circ}C$. In addition, the integrity of the interface between circulating HDPE pipes and cement grout was evaluated by performing equivalent hydraulic conductivity tests, on the specimen. in which a pipe locates at the center of the specimen.

• Economic and Environmental Geology
• /
• v.39 no.5 s.180
• /
• pp.607-613
• /
• 2006

For the reasonable use of low grade-shallow geothermal energy by Standing Column Well(SCW) system, the basic requirements are depth-wise increase of earth temperature like $2^{\circ}C$ per every 100m depth, sufficient amount of groundwater production being about 10 to 30% of the design flow rate of GSHP with good water quality and moderate temperature, and non-collapsing of borehole wall during reinjection of circulating water into the SCW. A closed loop type-vertical ground heat exchanger(GHEX) with $100{\sim}150m$ deep can supply geothermal energy of 2 to 3 RT but a SCW with $400{\sim}500m$ deep can provide $30{\sim}40RT$ being equivalent to 10 to 15 numbers of GHEX as well requires smaller space. Being considered as an alternative of vertical GHEX, many numbers of SCW have been widely constructed in whole country without any account for site specific hydrogeologic and geothermal characteristics. When those are designed and constructed under the base of insufficient knowledges of hydrgeothermal properties of the relevant specific site as our current situations, a bad reputation will be created and it will hamper a rational utilization of geothermal energy using SCW in the near future. This paper is prepared for providing a guideline of SCW design comportable to our hydrogeothermal system.