Thermo-Mechanical Behavior of Geothermal Energy Pile in Indian Sand

Abstract

India made pledges under the Paris agreement that 40% of India’s power capacity would generate by using non-fossil fuel sources by 2030. To reduce the carbon emissions intensity by 33–35% by 2030 from 2005 level, the sustainable energy generation should be employed. In this context, geothermal energy can be a novel concept and utilized as heat exchanger system with the help of geothermal energy pile. Moreover, energy demand for space conditioning can be fulfilled by implementing geothermal energy pile. Therefore, in this paper, the thermo-mechanical behavior of geothermal energy piles in Indian standard sand is analyzed numerically using finite element software COMSOL Multiphysics. Thermal cycle was applied same as diurnal and annual average ambient temperature of Jamshedpur city. The simulated results are presented in terms of vertical displacement of pile and volumetric strain. Subsequently, a detailed parametric analysis has also been conducted to understand the effect of different length to diameter ratio of pile. In addition of, the influence of thermo-physical properties of soil on the thermo-mechanical behavior of geothermal energy piles is investigated. The result showed that displacement and volumetric strain of pile followed the temperature change. The pile showed expansion and contraction under thermal load according to applied temperature and constraints provided by surrounding soil.