The thermal conductivity characteristics and prediction models of limestone sand-yellow soil mixtures

To optimize the backfilling of ground source heat pump drilling mud and boost the thermal conductivity of drilling materials, this study proposes using a mixture of limestone sand and loess, typical in karst regions, as backfill for buried pipe heat exchangers. Through indoor experiments, 152 limest...

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Main Authors: Xiong Liu, Ruiyong Mao, Zujing Zhang, Hongwei Wu, Xing Liang, Jing Chen
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Elsevier 2025-09-01
Series:Case Studies in Thermal Engineering
Subjects:
Online Access:http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2214157X25008056
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author Xiong Liu
Ruiyong Mao
Zujing Zhang
Hongwei Wu
Xing Liang
Jing Chen
author_facet Xiong Liu
Ruiyong Mao
Zujing Zhang
Hongwei Wu
Xing Liang
Jing Chen
author_sort Xiong Liu
collection DOAJ
description To optimize the backfilling of ground source heat pump drilling mud and boost the thermal conductivity of drilling materials, this study proposes using a mixture of limestone sand and loess, typical in karst regions, as backfill for buried pipe heat exchangers. Through indoor experiments, 152 limestone sand-loess mixtures were prepared and their thermal conductivities tested. Analyses explored the impacts of limestone sand content, moisture content, dry density, and particle size distribution. Results show that artificially graded materials generally outperform natural ones in thermal conductivity, with grading's influence decreasing as moisture rises. At 8 % moisture, grading increases thermal conductivity by 18.57 % (0.069–0.124 W/(m·K)); at 20 %, the increase is 7.63 %. High moisture and limestone sand content can yield a thermal conductivity of 1.508 W/(m·K). When using graded materials, geological conditions and aquifers should be considered, and they suit strata with moderate moisture. A backpropagation neural network - based predictive model for thermal conductivity, developed from experimental data, achieved 6.4 % average absolute percentage error, indicating good accuracy.
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id doaj-art-4e8b71a4576b46c3b5e9f28792e66b77
institution Kabale University
issn 2214-157X
language English
publishDate 2025-09-01
publisher Elsevier
record_format Article
series Case Studies in Thermal Engineering
spelling doaj-art-4e8b71a4576b46c3b5e9f28792e66b772025-08-20T03:47:19ZengElsevierCase Studies in Thermal Engineering2214-157X2025-09-017310654510.1016/j.csite.2025.106545The thermal conductivity characteristics and prediction models of limestone sand-yellow soil mixturesXiong Liu0Ruiyong Mao1Zujing Zhang2Hongwei Wu3Xing Liang4Jing Chen5College of Civil Engineering, Guizhou Provincial Key Laboratory of Rock and Soil Mechanics and Engineering Safety, Guizhou University, Guiyang, 550025, ChinaCollege of Civil Engineering, Guizhou Provincial Key Laboratory of Rock and Soil Mechanics and Engineering Safety, Guizhou University, Guiyang, 550025, China; Corresponding author.College of Civil Engineering, Guizhou Provincial Key Laboratory of Rock and Soil Mechanics and Engineering Safety, Guizhou University, Guiyang, 550025, ChinaSchool of Physics, Engineering and Computer Science, University of Hertfordshire, Hatfield, AL10 9AB, UKSchool of Computer Science and Mathematics, Kingston University London, KT1 2EE, UKGuizhou Polytechnic of Construction, Guiyang, 550025, ChinaTo optimize the backfilling of ground source heat pump drilling mud and boost the thermal conductivity of drilling materials, this study proposes using a mixture of limestone sand and loess, typical in karst regions, as backfill for buried pipe heat exchangers. Through indoor experiments, 152 limestone sand-loess mixtures were prepared and their thermal conductivities tested. Analyses explored the impacts of limestone sand content, moisture content, dry density, and particle size distribution. Results show that artificially graded materials generally outperform natural ones in thermal conductivity, with grading's influence decreasing as moisture rises. At 8 % moisture, grading increases thermal conductivity by 18.57 % (0.069–0.124 W/(m·K)); at 20 %, the increase is 7.63 %. High moisture and limestone sand content can yield a thermal conductivity of 1.508 W/(m·K). When using graded materials, geological conditions and aquifers should be considered, and they suit strata with moderate moisture. A backpropagation neural network - based predictive model for thermal conductivity, developed from experimental data, achieved 6.4 % average absolute percentage error, indicating good accuracy.http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2214157X25008056Ground source heat pumpBackfill materialGradationSand-soil mixtureBP neural network prediction
spellingShingle Xiong Liu
Ruiyong Mao
Zujing Zhang
Hongwei Wu
Xing Liang
Jing Chen
The thermal conductivity characteristics and prediction models of limestone sand-yellow soil mixtures
Case Studies in Thermal Engineering
Ground source heat pump
Backfill material
Gradation
Sand-soil mixture
BP neural network prediction
title The thermal conductivity characteristics and prediction models of limestone sand-yellow soil mixtures
title_full The thermal conductivity characteristics and prediction models of limestone sand-yellow soil mixtures
title_fullStr The thermal conductivity characteristics and prediction models of limestone sand-yellow soil mixtures
title_full_unstemmed The thermal conductivity characteristics and prediction models of limestone sand-yellow soil mixtures
title_short The thermal conductivity characteristics and prediction models of limestone sand-yellow soil mixtures
title_sort thermal conductivity characteristics and prediction models of limestone sand yellow soil mixtures
topic Ground source heat pump
Backfill material
Gradation
Sand-soil mixture
BP neural network prediction
url http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2214157X25008056
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