Determination of Thermal Conductivity of Coarse and Fine Sand Soils

Energy piles are technologies that tap into the thermal energy present in the ground and then utilize it for heating and/or cooling buildings. Heat is transmitted into/from the soil by conduction or convection due to the thermal gradients within the soil mass. The main thermal characteristics of soil are the thermal conductivity and thermal capacity. Soil thermal conductivity measurements describe the soil properties which govern the flow of heat through the soil. This paper describes a determination of thermal conductivity of sands at steady state and cooling stage conditions. Determination of thermal conductivity of sands (dry coarse sand, saturated coarse sand, dry fine sand, and saturated fine sand) at cooling stage conditions gives similar results to the generic published values.