Submit to Energies Review for Energies Propose a Special Issue

Journal Browser

► Journal Browser

Advancements in Thermal and Energy Geotechnics

Print Special Issue Flyer
Special Issue Editors
Special Issue Information
Keywords
Published Papers

A special issue of Energies (ISSN 1996-1073). This special issue belongs to the section "H2: Geothermal".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (10 January 2022) | Viewed by 9652

Share This Special Issue

Special Issue Editor

Prof. Dr. Sherif L. Abdelaziz

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor

Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, Blacksburg, VA, USA
Interests: Thermal and energy geotechnics; Energy foundations; Soil improvement; Multiscale soil behavior from microstructure to large-scale; Coupled phenomena in earth materials; Resilient infrastructure

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

This special issue of Energies covers the latest advancements in thermal and energy geotechnics including, among others, carbon sequestration, hydraulic fracturing for energy and gas extractions, deep geological repositories for nuclear waste, site investigations and foundation design for wind turbines, frozen soils, and energy foundations and geo-structures. The topics of interest extend from fundamental and theoretical knowledge to practical and filed-scale tests. Articles in a wide variety of topics will be considered for publications including, but not limited to: thermomechanical behaviour of earth materials (soils and rocks) across the length- and time-scales, thermo-hydro-chemo-mechanical response of soils and rocks, innovative site characterizations and design methods for the foundations of offshore wind turbines, behaviour of energy foundations, advances in predicting the behaviour of frozen soils, and mechanisms underlying hydraulic fracturing of deep geological deposits. Comprehensive review articles are also welcomed. Innovative numerical models, laboratory tests, or field experiments are of interest. Contact the Guest Editor with an abstract to determine suitability of your idea(s) to this edition and potential discounts for publication fees.

Prof. Dr. Sherif L. Abdelaziz
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Energies is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2600 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

Energy foundation
Geothermal
Multiscale behavior
Renewable energy
Carbon Sequestration
Coupled phenomenon
Thermomechanical
Energy pile
Thermo-active
Energy
Shale-gas
Fracking
Hydraulic fracturing
Wind energy
Frozen soils

Published Papers (5 papers)

Download All Papers

Research

13 pages, 1882 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Research on Fresh and Hardened Sealing Slurries with the Addition of Magnesium Regarding Thermal Conductivity for Energy Piles and Borehole Heat Exchangers

by Tomasz Sliwa, Tomasz Kowalski, Dominik Cekus and Aneta Sapińska-Śliwa

Energies 2021, 14(16), 5119; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/en14165119 - 19 Aug 2021

Cited by 3 | Viewed by 1541

Abstract

Currently, renewable energy is increasingly important in the energy sector. One of the so-called renewable energy sources is geothermal energy. The most popular solution implemented by both small and large customers is the consumption of low-temperature geothermal energy using borehole heat exchanger (BHE) systems assisted by geothermal heat pumps. Such an installation can operate regardless of geological conditions, which makes it extremely universal. Borehole heat exchangers are the most important elements of this system, as their design determines the efficiency of the entire heating or heating-and-cooling system. Filling/sealing slurry is amongst the crucial structural elements. In borehole exchangers, reaching the highest possible thermal conductivity of the cement slurry endeavors to improve heat transfer between the rock mass and the heat carrier. The article presents a proposed design for such a sealing slurry. Powdered magnesium was used as an additive to the cement. The approximate cost of powdered magnesium is PLN 70–90 per kg (EUR 15–20/kg). Six different slurry formulations were tested. Magnesium flakes were used in designs A, B, C, and magnesium shavings in D, E and F. The samples differed in the powdered magnesium content BWOC (by weight of cement). The parameters of fresh and hardened sealing slurries were tested, focusing mainly on the thermal conductivity parameter. The highest thermal conductivity values were obtained in design C with the 45% addition of magnesium flakes BWOC. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advancements in Thermal and Energy Geotechnics)

► Show Figures

Figure 1

15 pages, 26497 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Research on the Correction Method of the Capillary End Effect of the Relative Permeability Curve of the Steady State

by Yanyan Li, Shuoliang Wang, Zhihong Kang, Qinghong Yuan, Xiaoqiang Xue, Chunlei Yu and Xiaodong Zhang

Energies 2021, 14(15), 4528; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/en14154528 - 27 Jul 2021

Cited by 4 | Viewed by 2106

Abstract

Relative permeability curve is a key factor in describing the characteristics of multiphase flow in porous media. The steady-state method is an effective method to measure the relative permeability curve of oil and water. The capillary discontinuity at the end of the samples will cause the capillary end effect. The capillary end effect (CEE) affects the flow and retention of the fluid. If the experimental design and data interpretation fail to eliminate the impact of capillary end effects, the relative permeability curve may be wrong. This paper proposes a new stability factor method, which can quickly and accurately correct the relative permeability measured by the steady-state method. This method requires two steady-state experiments at the same proportion of injected liquid (wetting phase and non-wetting phase), and two groups of flow rates and pressure drop data are obtained. The pressure drop is corrected according to the new relationship between the pressure drop and the core length. This new relationship is summarized as a stability factor. Then the true relative permeability curve that is not affected by the capillary end effect can be obtained. The validity of the proposed method is verified against a wide range of experimental results. The results emphasize that the proposed method is effective, reliable, and accurate. The operation steps of the proposed method are simple and easy to apply. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advancements in Thermal and Energy Geotechnics)

► Show Figures

Graphical abstract

10 pages, 1309 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Single Well Productivity Prediction Model for Fracture-Vuggy Reservoir Based on Selected Seismic Attributes

by Shuozhen Wang, Shuoliang Wang, Chunlei Yu and Haifeng Liu

Energies 2021, 14(14), 4134; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/en14144134 - 08 Jul 2021

Cited by 3 | Viewed by 1516

Abstract

Single well productivity is an important index of oilfield production planning and economic evaluation. Due to fracture-vuggy reservoirs being characteristically strongly heterogeneous and having complex fluid distribution, the commonly used single well productivity prediction methods for fracture-vuggy reservoirs have many problems, such as difficulty in obtaining reservoir parameters and producing large errors in the forecast values of single well productivity. In this paper, based on the triple medium model, the Laplace transform and Duhamel principle are used to obtain the productivity equation of a single well in a fracture-vuggy reservoir. Secondly, the seismic attributes affecting the productivity of a single well are selected using the Spearman and Pearson correlation index calculation method. Finally, the selected seismic attributes are introduced into the productivity equation of the triple medium model through the interporosity flow coefficient and the elastic storativity ratio, and the undetermined coefficients under different karst backgrounds are determined using multiple nonlinear regression. From these, a new method for predicting single well productivity of fracture-vuggy reservoir is established. In order to verify the feasibility of the new method, based on the actual production data of a fracture-vuggy reservoir in Xinjiang, the new single well productivity prediction method is used to predict the productivity of 134 oil wells. The results show that the new productivity prediction method not only reduces calculation workload, but also improves the accuracy of productivity prediction, which contributes to a good foundation for future oilfield development. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advancements in Thermal and Energy Geotechnics)

► Show Figures

Figure 1

17 pages, 3790 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Experimental Study of the Space–Time Effect of a Double-Pipe Frozen Curtain Formation with Different Groundwater Velocities

by Shicheng Sun, Chuanxin Rong, Hua Cheng, Bin Wang, Xiaogang Jiang, Wei Zhang and Yunusa Halliru

Energies 2021, 14(13), 3830; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/en14133830 - 25 Jun 2021

Cited by 2 | Viewed by 1248

Abstract

Groundwater velocity has significant effects on the formation of a frozen curtain during freezing. In order to study the influence of the velocity on a frozen curtain, a large physical model test platform was established for double-pipe freezing. Based on this platform, freezing tests for different velocities were carried out. Quartz sand was selected as a similar material. The freezing temperature of the saturated sand layer was found by analyzing the results of the nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR). Based on the study of the thermal physical properties of the sand layer, the freezing test results were analyzed, and the results showed that the flow led to the differential development of the temperature between the upstream and downstream sections of the freezing pipes. Moreover, the larger the velocity, the greater the difference. The flow prolonged the overlapping time of the frozen curtains. Additionally, the flow slowed down the development of the frozen curtain area and the frozen curtain thickness. The larger the flow velocity, the greater the inhibition of the flow on the development of the frozen curtain. The test results can provide more references for the design and construction of freezing engineering with flowing groundwater. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advancements in Thermal and Energy Geotechnics)

► Show Figures

Graphical abstract

20 pages, 8239 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Strength Tests of Hardened Cement Slurries for Energy Piles, with the Addition of Graphite and Graphene, in Terms of Increasing the Heat Transfer Efficiency

by Tomasz Sliwa, Aneta Sapińska-Śliwa, Tomasz Wysogląd, Tomasz Kowalski and Izabela Konopka

Energies 2021, 14(4), 1190; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/en14041190 - 23 Feb 2021

Cited by 8 | Viewed by 2321

Abstract

The development of civilization, and subsequent increase in the number of new buildings, poses engineering problems which are progressively more difficult to solve, especially in the field of geotechnics and geoengineering. When designing new facilities, particular attention should be paid to environmental aspects, and thus any new facility should be a passive building, fully self-sufficient in energy. The use of load-bearing energy piles could be a solution. This article presents research on the cement slurry formulas with the addition of graphite and graphene, that can be used as a material for load-bearing piles. The proposed solution is to introduce U-tubes into the pile to exchange heat with the rock mass (the so-called energy piles). A comparison of four slurry formulas is presented: the first one consisting mainly of cement (CEM I), graphite, and water, and the remaining three with different percentages of graphene relative to the weight of dry cement. The results could contribute to the industrial application of those formulas in the future. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advancements in Thermal and Energy Geotechnics)

► Show Figures

Figure 1

Journal Menu

Journal Browser

Advancements in Thermal and Energy Geotechnics

Share This Special Issue

Special Issue Editor

Special Issue Information

Keywords

Published Papers (5 papers)

Research

Further Information

Guidelines

MDPI Initiatives

Follow MDPI