• KSCE Journal of Civil and Environmental Engineering Research
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• v.32 no.5C
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• pp.177-183
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• 2012

The use of energy pile foundation has been increased for economic utilization of geothermal energy. In particular, a coil-shaped ground heat exchanger (GHE) is preferred than conventional U-shaped heat exchanger to ensure better efficiency of heat exchange rate. This paper presents experimental results by changing different pitch spaces of spiral coils. Joomunjin sand was filled in a steel box of which the size was $5m{\times}1m{\times}1m$. Thermal response tests (TRTs) were conducted to measure the ground thermal conductivity with temperatures of circulating water using line source model and ring coil model. Experimental results and analytical solutions were compared to validate the applicability of these models. Ring coil model showed more accurate similar results with experimental data rather than line source model and cylindrical source model.

• Journal of the Korean Geotechnical Society
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• v.29 no.9
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• pp.31-41
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• 2013

The use of energy pile foundation has increased for economic utilization of geothermal energy. In particular, coil-shaped ground heat exchanger (GHE) is preferred to the conventional U-shaped exchanger to ensure better efficiency of heat exchange rate. This paper presents a numerical and experimental study on the heat transfer behavior of PHC energy piles. Field thermal performance tests (TPTs) were conducted for the PHC energy piles installed in a partially saturated weathered granite soil deposit, in which two types of GHEs were considered: W and coil shaped GHEs. Besides, three-dimensional finite element analyses were also conducted, and the results were compared with the experimental results. According to the results of TPT and numerical analyses, the coil shaped GHE showed 10~15% higher heat exchange rate than the W type GHE in the PHC energy piles.