Thermal behavior of single energy pile in saline soil environments
- 1School of Urban Construction, Wuhan University of Science and Technology
- 2Key Laboratory of Geotechnical Mechanics and Engineering of the Ministry of Water Resources, Changjiang River Scientific Research Institute
- 3College of Civil and Transportation Engineering, Shenzhen University
Abstract
Energy piles are increasingly applied in saline soil regions, yet the influence of salinity on their thermal performance is not sufficiently quantified. This study implements a salinity-dependent thermophysical property module—based on established correlations for thermal conductivity, density, and specific heat—within a three-dimensional numerical model of a single energy pile using COMSOL Multiphysics. Unlike conventional analyses that assume constant soil thermal properties, the model accounts for salinity-induced variations in thermal conductivity. Parametric simulations show that increasing salinity from 0 to 8.775 (g/ kg) raises soil thermal conductivity by 28.2% while reducing specific heat capacity, thereby accelerating temperature evolution in the surrounding soil and lowering pile temperature by 0.61 °C. Flow velocity optimization indicates that increasing flow rate beyond 0.684 m3/h yields negligible improvements in heat transfer due to the dominance of soil conduction resistance. Quantitative design guidelines are proposed to define allowable operational temperature ranges and recommended flow velocity intervals. This work provides a physically consistent, quantitatively calibrated approach to the thermal design of energy piles in saline environments.
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BibTeX
@article{lyu2026thermal,
title = {{Thermal behavior of single energy pile in saline soil environments}},
author = {Weidong Lyu and Min Xia and Xudong Zhao and Jinwei Qiu and Hefu Pu},
journal = {Scientific Reports},
year = {2026},
month = jul,
doi = {10.1038/s41598-026-63666-x},
url = {https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-026-63666-x},
note = {CC BY},
}
RIS
TY - JOUR
TI - Thermal behavior of single energy pile in saline soil environments
AU - Weidong Lyu
AU - Min Xia
AU - Xudong Zhao
AU - Jinwei Qiu
AU - Hefu Pu
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/07/01
JO - Scientific Reports
DO - 10.1038/s41598-026-63666-x
UR - https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-026-63666-x
AB - Energy piles are increasingly applied in saline soil regions, yet the influence of salinity on their thermal performance is not sufficiently quantified. This study implements a salinity-dependent thermophysical property module—based on established correlations for thermal conductivity, density, and specific heat—within a three-dimensional numerical model of a single energy pile using COMSOL Multiphysics. Unlike conventional analyses that assume constant soil thermal properties, the model accounts for salinity-induced variations in thermal conductivity. Parametric simulations show that increasing salinity from 0 to 8.775 (g/ kg) raises soil thermal conductivity by 28.2% while reducing specific heat capacity, thereby accelerating temperature evolution in the surrounding soil and lowering pile temperature by 0.61 °C. Flow velocity optimization indicates that increasing flow rate beyond 0.684 m3/h yields negligible improvements in heat transfer due to the dominance of soil conduction resistance. Quantitative design guidelines are proposed to define allowable operational temperature ranges and recommended flow velocity intervals. This work provides a physically consistent, quantitatively calibrated approach to the thermal design of energy piles in saline environments.
SN - 2045-2322
ER -