Prediction and Improvement of Artificial Ground Freezing

Abstract

The aim of present study is to establish the numerical model for the solidification or melting of water saturated soil and to clarify the effect of thermal and physical parameters on the artificial soil freezing by comparing between the numerical and experimental results. First, the numerical model has been modified to adapt for freezing of soil. By comparing between obtained numerical solutions and experimental data, the validity of the model has been checked and certified. Next, the effect of physical property of soil, initial and boundary conditions of soil and freezing pipes, the velocity of groundwater, and the arrangement of freezing pipes on soil freezing have been examined. As the results, it was found that the water content of soil and ground water affect the volume of solid, besides the groundwater also especially changes the profile of solid/liquid interface. The rate of the interface growth would gradually stop provided that the flow speed exceeds certain limits. The knowledge obtained from our study will be useful to predict solid volume, decrease in thermal energy consumption and minimize the influence to ambience on artificial ground freezing precisely.