Thermal resistivity

Testing
1.0 Thermal Properties of the soil
Soil thermal properties are required in many areas of engineering,
agronomy, and soil science, and in recent years considerable effort
has gone into developing techniques to determine these properties.
Thermal conductivity is considered one of the most important
thermal properties of plant environment. It is considered as the
property that controls heat flow through materials of different types.
The thermal conductivity of a soil depends on several factors. These
factors can be arranged into two broad groups, those which are
inherent to the soil itself, and those which can be managed or
controlled, at least to a certain extent by human management.
Those factors or properties that are inherent to the soil itself include
the texture and mineralogical composition of the soil. Factors
influencing a soils thermal conductivity that can be managed
externally include water content and soil bulk density.
Soil thermal conductivity is an important parameter in the design of
energy foundation systems. One laboratory method for measuring
the soil thermal conductivity is the needle probe method. The
migration of heat in porous media has attracted attention of the
research fraternity, since almost a century. Studies conducted in the
past reveal that heat migration in a medium primarily depends on
the Thermal conductivity (, [W/(mK)]) is the ability of the material
to transfer heat and the heat capacity (C, [J/m3K]) depends on the
materials ability of storing energy. The Thermal diffusivity (,
[m2/s]) is the ability to even out temperature differences within the
material. The thermal resistivity (ability of the material to resist heat
flow in it), The relationship between thermal conductivity, heat
capacity and thermal diffusion can be seen in Equation (1).
=
Nowadays, there are three variables measured for the
characterization of the thermal properties in porous media and soft
rocks. These are the volumetric specific heat capacity, the thermal
conductivity and the thermal diffusivity.
Recently, Decagon Devices has developed the KD2-Pro meter. This
instrument is a useful device, which permits storing more than 4000
thermal data. This company has also improved the design of sensors
for this specific use. KD2-Pro uses the infinite line heat pulse method
based on current standard ASTM D 5334. Nevertheless, it is not

clear how to obtain the required reliability and accuracy in

the measurements since neither the standard nor manufacturers
user manual do not include any method or recommendation for that.
Therefore, a strong methodology is required to achieve the
maximum efficiency when KD2-Pro is used.
For safe and proper execution of various civil and electrical
engineering projects, determination of thermal resistivity of soils is
quite essential. However, thermal properties of soils would play an
important role for extremely environmental sensitive projects such
as disposal of high-level radioactive waste, various engineering
projects such as design and laying of high-voltage buried power
cables, oil and gas pipe lines, and ground modification techniques
employing heating and freezing. In addition to characterizing the
soils physical/hydraulic properties, knowledge of the soils thermal
properties is necessary for energy power plants.
Recently, Decagon Devices Inc. has developed the KD2-Pro meter
logger and two specific sensors: the SH-1 thermal sensor, to
measure the thermal properties employing the dual needle heat
pulse (DNHP) method, and KS-1 thermal sensor that is a single
needle employing an infinite line heat source (ILHS) method. In
order to obtain reliable data, field and laboratory procedures to
determine thermal properties with the KD2-Pro need to be
normalized, according to existing standards and manufacturers
indications, since soil scientists, engineers, and other users are
demanding these kind of data for different applications. The present
work describes the step towards the development of a field
procedure to obtain reliable, accurate, and rapid thermal properties
dataset in soils, taking into account the current accepted standard.
The thermal resistivities of soils at the proposed solar power plant
were determined using KD2 Pro (Figure 1).

Figure (1): Photograph showing KD 2 Pro Meter.

The KD2 Pro is a fully portable field and laboratory thermal
properties analyzer. It uses the transient line heat source method to
measure the thermal diffusivity, specific heat (heat capacity),
thermal conductivity, and thermal resistivity. Sophisticated data
analysis is based on over thirty years of research experience on
heat and mass transfer in soils and other porous materials. To
determine the thermal resistivity, thermal sensor with dual needle
(SH-1) was employed. This kind of sensor uses the heat pulse
methodology and yields reliable soil thermal resistivity (R) and the
inverse thermal conductivity () estimations by a nonlinear least
squares procedure during both processes.
2.0 Field Procedure
The first step to develop a protocol to measure the thermal
resistivity begins with the field sampling design. Ten (10) soil and
rock samples were collected from different test pits and were
transported to laboratory for the analyses. The samples were kept in
polythene bags and stored in a cool dry place before the necessary
tests were carried out on them.
The measurements were conducted on the collected samples where
the thermal sensor (calibration) using standard glycerol in order to
check whether it was functioning properly. The thermal sensor to be

used was then selected (SH11 was used). The needle was positioned
with respect to the sample and the thermal resistivity was then
measured by using the thermal sensor SH-1.
To take measurements with the KD2 Pro appropriate sensor was
attached and the KD2 Pro was turned on; sensor was properly
inserted into the material to be measured (for the dual needle
sensor, the needles must remain parallel to each other during
insertion); when the KD2 Pro turns on, one should be in the Main
Menu and press enter to begin the measurement. The instrument
was allowed to rest for about 15 minutes before taking the next
reading. The results of the thermal characteristics of soils measured
are shown in Table 1. The Thermal conductivity (K); C is
specific heat capacity; D is thermal diffusivity and rho =
thermal resistivity. The error of measurements should be less
than 1%.
Table 1: Thermal resistivity of soils at the proposed site
Sample
ID
TP 5
TP 11
TP 8
TP 6
TP 2
TP 3
TP 4
TP 9
TP 1
TP 7
TP 10 ?
TP 12 ?
Average

K
W/(mK)
0.247
0.448
0.327
0.240
0.333
0.362
0.309
0.281
0.233
0.233
0.239
0.223
0.290

rho
mK/W
4.045
2.234
3.055
4.171
3.000
2.765
3.241
3.562
4.294
4.290
4.179
4.491
3.611

C
MJ/(mK)
1.298
1.567
1.382
1.381
1.262
1.360
1.517
1.473
1.677
1.344
1.245
1.262
1.397

D
mm/s
0.190
0.286
0.237
0.174
0.264
0.266
0.203
0.191
0.139
0.173
0.192
0.176
0.208

Err
0.0017
0.0034
0.0016
0.0012
0.0026
0.0026
0.0018
0.0011
0.0010
0.0009
0.0009
0.0014
0.002

Temp(0)
C
31.52
31.62
31.95
31.55
31.91
31.77
31.80
31.68
32.12
30.08
29.84
33.93
31.648

3.0 Thermal Conductivity (K)

From Table 1, the thermal conductivity of soil in the study area
ranges from 0.666 to 0.223 W/m.K with a mean of 0.448 W/m.K with
an average value of 0.29 W/m.K . As shown from Table 1, there is
some variations in the thermal conductivity values of the tested soil
samples.
4.0 Thermal Resistivity (Rho)
From Table 1, the thermal resistivity of soil in the study area ranges
from 4.491 mK/W from soil sample TP12 to 2.77 m.k/W as in
sample TP3 with a mean value of of 3.61 m.K/W. As shown from
Table 1, There is some variations in the thermal resistivity values of
the tested soil samples. Density and water content play important
roles in determining what the thermal resistivity will be. Natural soils
which support plant growth will always have much higher
resistivities than engineered materials because of their lower
density and variable, but sometimes low water content.
Thermal resistivity (TR) is a major input parameter into cable rating
calculations and a thorough understanding of the resulting values
during construction is vital to ensure the specified cable ratings are
achievable over the lifetime of installed assets. The use of soil
thermal resistivity of 0.9 m.K/W has become ingrained in cable
engineering practices. This means that the thermal resistivity values
of soil in the study area are higher than the safe value of 0.9 m.K/W
proposed by various workers.
5.0 Specific Heat (C)
From Table 1, the specific heat of sandy soil samples ranges from
1.677 MJ/(mK) as in sample TP1 to 1.245 MJ/(mK) as in sample
TP10 with an average value of 1.397 MJ/(mK)
6.0 Thermal Diffusivity (D)
The thermal diffusivity values ranges from 0.139 mm/s as in sample
TP1 to 0.286 mm/s as in sample TP11 with an average value of
0.208 mm/s.
Conclusion
It has been observed that the thermal resistivity of soil in the study
area and their variation, it can be concluded that the soils in
proposed site are good enough for laying buried cable in the area.