A Review on Geothermal Energy Pile Foundation, Its Construction, Design and Thermal Testing

Geothermal energy pile foundations are alternative means of harvesting eco-friendly thermal energy generated and stored in the Earth for heating and cooling purposes. Rapid growth in the utilization of geothermal structures over the years has led to several research efforts centered on understanding their thermal and thermo-mechanical performance through in-situ characterization. This paper discusses considerably, the review of literature on the background, construction, and design of geothermal energy piles, as well as the principle behind the technology. Furthermore, an overview of the key factors to be considered in the design such as the thermal conductivity, thermal diffusivity, and the specific heat capacity was presented. More importantly, under thermo-mechanical loading, the pile shaft capacity has been reported to increase when heated and upon cooling, a recovery of the initial capacity of the pile. Also, the thermal loads and displacements resulting from the geothermal use of the energy piles are not expected to contribute to geotechnical failure. Lastly, insight into the thermal response test, the theoretical background of thermal analysis, and a few previous field thermal response tests were presented. This paper has found that geothermal energy piles are one of the best candidates for sustainable energy, even though there are some limitations in the guidelines for design and testing for large schemes.

Keywords:Conductivity; Energy pile; Geothermal; Heat transfer; Pump; Sustainable; Thermal