JOURNAL OF CHINA UNIVERSITY OF

MINING &
TECHNOLOGY
J China Univ Mining & Technol 18 (2008) 0067–0071
www.elsevier.com/locate/jcumt

Numerical analysis of factors affecting the range of heat

transfer in earth surrounding three subways
HU Zeng-hui, LI Xiao-zhao, ZHAO Xiao-bao, XIAO Lin, WU Wei
Department of Earth Sciences, Nanjing University, Nanjing, Jiangsu 210093, China

Abstract: In order to examine the factors which affect the range of heat transfer in earth surrounding subways, FLAC3D was
adopted in this study to analyze these factors, under different conditions, in a systematic manner. When we compare these numeri-
cal tests, the results show that the main factors, affecting the heat transfer range are the thermal properties of the surrounding earth,
the initial ground temperature and the temperature in the tunnel. The heat transfer coefficient between air and linings has little effect
on the temperature distribution around the tunnel. The current results can provide a reference for improving the thermal environ-
ment in subways and optimizing the design of subway ventilation and air conditioning.
Key words: earth surrounding subways; range of heat transfer factors affecting heat transfer; numerical analysis

1 Introduction load was calculated by assuming that the heat transfer

The problem of heat transfer through the earth,
surrounding a particular project, is important in the
design of environmental subway control systems. A
permissible range of heat transfer is a precondition
for determining the transmission heat load through
the surrounding earth. A reasonable prediction of the
transmission heat load provides a basis for accurately
calculating the air condition heat loads. Both the heat
transfer range and the transmission heat load, how-
ever, are not well understood at present and these two
values show large discrepancies in different projects.
Subway systems can generate a large mount of heat
in their operation and the heat cannot be completely
exhausted by ventilation systems, so the temperature
of the tunnel and the surrounding earth will increase
substantially[1]. This may result in passenger discom-
fort in hot weather conditions[2–7]. The result from
Ampofo, et al shows that heat absorbed by the sur-
rounding earth occupies 30% of the total heat gener-
ated from subway systems[5]. Chinese experts esti-
mate that the value is around 25%–40%[8]. Cockram
and Birnie measured the changes in soil/clay tem-
perature adjacent to the running tunnels at the London
subway. Their results show that the heat transfer
range in the surrounding earth is about 5 m after four
years of running subway trains. In the recent design
of a subway controlling system, the transmission heat
range in some designs is 0.5 m[1]. In other designs,
the transmission heat load is simply accepted as fixed
for a particular design without considering the dif-
ferent factors which affect an entire subway line. Ac-
tually, the heat transfer range and the transmission
heat load are related to factors such as the thermal
properties of the surrounding earth, initial ground
temperature, tunnel temperature, heat transfer coeffi-
cient and others.
Up to now, there have been many studies on the
characteristics of heat transfer of tunnels in cold-re-
gions and underground cold storage, but few studies
on the range of heat transfer and the regularity of
temperature distribution around subway tunnels have
been found[9–11]. Reliable prediction models and cal-
culation methods have not been reported either.
In this study, a series of numerical analyses of
temperature distribution around a tunnel under dif-
ferent conditions were carried out with FLAC3D. The
factors affecting the heat transfer range were studied.
The results can be used as references in the design of
subway ventilation and air conditioning.
2 Heat transfer principle and governing
equations
Heat transfer in a medium includes three ways:
conduction, convection and radiation. First, heat

Received 15 July; accepted 20 November 2007

Projects BK2007145 supported by the Jiangsu Natural Science Foundation of China and NCET-04-0454 by the Program for New Century Excellent Talents
in Universities
Corresponding author. Tel: +86-25-83597196; E-mail address: huzenghui@126.com
68 Journal of China University of Mining & Technology Vol.18 No.1

transfer, occurring between air and the lining of a
tunnel, is by convection. In rock and soil, heat trans-
fer will mostly occur in the form of conduction if we
assume that there is no fluid flow through rock frac-
tures. The porous medium is usually assumed to be
isotropic on a macroscopic scale, even though it is not
truly isotropic on a microscopic scale.
The numerical code used in the prediction of tem-
perature distribution is FLAC3D, which is based on a
finite difference method. Basic laws used in FLAC3D,
defining the relation between the heat flux vector and
the temperature gradient, are Fourier’s law and the
law of conservation of energy[12].
1) Energy-balance equation
−qi,i + qv = ρCv∂T/∂t (1)
2
where qi is the heat-flux vector in (W/m ), qv the
volumetric heat-source intensity in (W/m3), ρ the
mass density of the medium in (kg/m3), Cv the spe-
cific heat at constant volume in (J/(kg·°C)), T the
temperature (°C) and t is time (s).
2) Fourier’s law
For a stationary, homogeneous, isotropic solid, this
constitutive law is given in the form:
qi = −kTi,i (2)
where Ti is the temperature (°C) and k the thermal
conductivity in (W/(m·°C)).
3) Boundary condition
qn = h(T − Te) (3)
where qn is the component of the flux normal to the
boundary in the direction of the exterior normal
(W/m2), h the heat-transfer coefficient (W/(m2·°C)), T
the temperature of the boundary surface and Te the air
temperature (°C). Note that in the numerical formula-
tion used in FLAC3D, boundaries are adiabatic by
default.
3 Numerical model, parameters and condi-
tions
There are many factors affecting the range of heat
transferred from subway tunnels to the surrounding
earth, such as the thermal properties of the surround-
ing earth, the initial ground temperature and the in-
ner/outer heat boundary conditions. Tunnel tempera-
ture is the inner boundary and atmospheric tempera-
ture is the outer boundary. When some tunnel is posi-
tioned in varying temperature layers, the ground
coefficient between the air and the lining, on the
range of heat transfer are discussed in the following
sections.
Since the subway tunnel models in this study are
assumed to be located in a constant temperature layer,
a quarter of a circular tunnel model is adopted for
simulation. The equivalent radius of the tunnel is set
to 2.75 m referring to the designed dimension of the
Nanjing subway tunnel[13]. The configuration of the
model mesh is shown in Fig. 1, the distribution of
elements is set to the ratio of 1:1.1 along the radial
direction from the inner face of the tunnel and the
0.35 m-thick lining is in direct contact with the sur-
rounding earth.
Fig. 1 Configuration of the model mesh
The initial temperature is that of the constant tem-
perature layer and equal to the average annual at-
mospheric temperature in the area. The temperature
around the inner face of the tunnel is uniform; the
temperature variation along the axial direction of the
tunnel and the thermal contact resistance between
lining and surrounding earth are both ignored here.
The heat transfer coefficient between the air and the
surface of lining is 10.0 W/(m2·°C) [14]. According to
the symmetry of this model and its computational
domain, there is no heat flux on the left and lower
boundaries, so these are adiabatic boundaries. Be-
cause the computational domain is enough large, the
heat flux on the right and upper boundaries has little
effect on the earth near the tunnel. The determinate
principle is that the temperature at the first grid near
the boundary, after finishing the calculation, is
changed in less than 10–4 °C.
Table 1 Properties of the surrounding earth and lining
Thermal Specific Degree of
Surrounding Density
earth type (kg/m3)
conductivity heat saturation
(W(m·K)) (J/(kg·K)) (%)
Lining 2500 2.23 780

temperature and tunnel temperature will both fluctu- Sandstone 2430 2.65 1020
ate with atmospheric temperature and their ranges of Sand 1800 1.35 1550 99
variation are different. If such variation is considered, Silt 1850 1.25 1630 98
the problem will become quite complicated, therefore, Silty clay 1900 1.16 1860 99
we assume the tunnel is located in a constant tem- Clay 1950 1.02 1940 99
perature layer and the fluctuation of atmospheric
temperature is not considered. The effects of thermal The average thermal properties of the surrounding
properties of the surrounding earth, the initial ground earth at almost the same saturation, were obtained by
temperature, tunnel temperature and the heat transfer the selection from more than 300 groups of typical
HU Zeng-hui et al Numerical analysis of factors affecting the range of heat transfer in earth surrounding …
earth thermal properties in Nanjing. The results are
shown in Table 1. Thermal conductivity was meas-
ured by a TC-Probe with the hot wire method and
specific heat was measured by a DSC6 system with a
type of power compensation.
4 Simulation analysis on heat transfer
characteristics of surrounding earth
4.1 Effect of initial temperatures
In China, the atmospheric temperatures in northern
and southern areas are quiet different, so the ground
temperature varies from the north to the south. Taking
Shenyang, Nanjing and Guangzhou as examples, the
heat transfer capacities of the earth surrounding the
subway in those three areas were calculated under
extreme conditions. Statistics from the China Mete-
orological Administration show that the average an-
nual atmospheric temperature in Shenyang, Nanjing
and Guangzhou is 7.6, 15.5 and 21.5 °C, respectively.
The limiting temperature of the tunnel is 35 °C ac-
cording to the code for the design of subway lines[8].
Assuming that the surrounding earth is a silty clay,
the result of the temperature distribution around the
Nanjing subway in the 5th year is shown in Fig. 2. It
indicates that the temperature gradient near the inner
surface of the tunnel is larger than that at some fur-
ther distance. This result agrees with the regularity of
basic heat transfer.
Fig. 2 Temperature distribution around Nanjing
subway tunnel
The range of heat transfer is defined as the distance
between the inner surface of the tunnel and a constant
temperature position. To be fair, this constant tem-
perature place does not exist and the temperature gra-
dient will be changed along the entire model when
the heat begins to transfer. As a result, we have used,
as the range of heat transfer, the distance between the
inner surface of the tunnel and the point where the
temperature only changes by 5%. The temporal
curves of heat transfer ranges in three different areas
are shown in Fig. 3. It shows that the range of heat
transfer is larger while the initial temperature is lower.
It can be concluded that the heat transfer capability of
69
the earth surrounding subways in the north is larger
than that in the south. The heat transfer range around
the Shenyang subway tunnel will be 1.22 times as
large as that around the Guangzhou subway tunnel
after 5 years. Given this result, the difference between
northern and southern areas of China should be con-
sidered carefully in the calculation of subway heat
loads.
Fig. 3 Temporal curves of heat transfer range
in different areas
4.2 Effect of thermal properties of surrounding
earth
Different types of earth, surrounding the various
subways, have different heat transfer characteris-
tics[15–16]. Their thermal properties vary with satura-
tion and density, even though they are of the same
type in the same area. In general, thermal conductiv-
ity increases with increasing saturation and density[17].
For the purpose of eliminating the interference caused
by other factors, the thermal properties of different
soils used in the model are in the same saturation.
Their properties are shown in Table 1.
Heat transfer regularities of surrounding earth,
such as sandstone, sand, soil, silt, silty clay and clay
were investigated by numerical simulation. Assuming
that the tunnel is located in a constant-temperature
layer in Nanjing, the highest temperature of the tun-
nel is set to 35 °C according to the code[8]. The tem-
poral curves of heat transfer ranges in five types of
surrounding earth are shown in Fig. 4.
Fig. 4 Temporal curves of heat transfer ranges
in different surrounding earth
As shown in Fig. 4, the heat transfer range in each
type of surrounding earth increases with their thermal
conductivities (sandstone>sand>soil>silt>silty clay˚
70 Journal of China University of Mining & Technology
clay). So, we conclude that the higher the thermal
conductivity and the lower the specific heat, the faster
the heat transfer rate and the larger the heat transfer
range. The heat transfer range in the sandstone is 0.82
times as large as that in clay in the 1st year under ex-
treme conditions and 1.84 times in the 5th year. It
implies that the difference of the heat transfer range
between the sandstone with high saturation and clay
with low saturation should be much larger than 1.84
times. The difference will be smaller than 1.84 times
between sandstone with low saturation and clay with
high saturation. It can be concluded that the differ-
ence of the heat transfer range caused by properties of
the surrounding earth need to be fully considered in
the design of heat loads.
4.3 Effect of tunnel temperatures
The results of the studies cited above were all ob-
tained under extreme conditions, but actually, the
tunnel temperature is usually lower than the limiting
temperature by using a ventilation and air condition-
ing system. Because tunnel temperature is one of
those important factors affecting the tunnel, the case
of the Nanjing subway in silty clay was analyzed un-
der the conditions of different tunnel temperatures
(20, 25, 30 and 35 °C). The results are shown in Fig.
5.
Fig. 5 Temporal curves of heat transfer range under different
internal tunnel temperatures
From Fig. 5, we see that during similar periods the
heat transfer range is larger, while the tunnel tem-
perature is higher, but the increasing range becomes
gradually smaller with increasing tunnel temperature.
The heat transfer range in the 5th year, when the tun-
nel temperature is 35 °C, is 1.5 times as large as that
under the condition of a tunnel temperature of 20 °C.
It can be concluded that the tunnel temperature has a
large effect on the range of heat transfer. Therefore,
the correct estimate of the tunnel temperature is one
of the most important premises for calculating the
heat transfer range and a reasonable use of energy.
4.4 Effect of heat transfer coefficients
The heat transfer coefficient is a parameter con-
cerning air velocity and the temperature difference
between the air and the tunnel surface; it changes
with air velocity under the different ventilation
modes[18]. For this model, assuming that the tunnel is
Vol.18 No.1
located in Nanjing, tunnel temperature is 35 °C, the
surrounding earth is a silty clay and the heat transfer
coefficient is set to be 5, 10, 15 and 30 W/(m2·°C)
respectively, the results are shown in Fig. 6.
Fig. 6 Temporal curves of heat transfer range for
different heat transfer coefficient
It implies that the range of heat transfer is increas-
ing with the heat transfer coefficient, but the increase
in the range is very small. The difference of the heat
transfer range in the 5th year is only 0.42 m when the
heat coefficient is 5 or 30 W/(m2·°C).
4.5 Effect of the same ∆T in different areas
Because the atmospheric temperature is different
between northern and southern areas of China, the
total heat loads in the north and south are the same in
the subway, the northern tunnel temperature is usu-
ally lower than the southern tunnel temperature. ∆T is
the difference between the tunnel temperature and the
initial ground temperature. Assuming that the tunnel
temperatures in Shenyang, Nanjing and Guangzhou
are all 10 °C higher than their initial temperatures and
that the surrounding earth is a silty clay, the subway
models in those three cities are used to analyze the
problem. The results are shown in Fig. 7.
Fig. 7 Temporal curves of heat transfer range under the
same ∆T but at different ground temperatures
It is found that the range of heat transfer of those
three subway show no difference during the same
calculation period under the condition of the same
type of surrounding earth, the same difference be-
tween the tunnel temperature and the initial tempera-
ture. Since the heat transfer process is an energy
transfer process, it follows that when the temperature
increment is equal at the same time, the same material
absorbs the same amount of heat.
HU Zeng-hui et al Numerical analysis of factors affecting the range of heat transfer in earth surrounding …
5 Conclusions
1) The reliability of numerical results is closely re-
lated to the experience of the investigator and his/her
thorough understanding of the problems. With rea-
sonable simplification and simulation methods this
can be carried out successfully. These two points are
very important in numerical methods.
2) From our numerical analysis, we conclude that
the heat transfer in the surrounding earth is quick and
the variation in temperature around the tunnel great at
the beginning of subway operations. Over time, the
heat transfer range becomes larger, but the rate of
increase becomes smaller.
3) Under the same conditions, the initial tempera-
ture, thermal properties and the tunnel temperature
have a great effect on the heat transfer range, but the
heat transfer coefficient has little effect. The initial
temperature varies with areas, but if ∆T in the north
and south is the same, the heat transfer range and ve-
locity of subways are the same in different areas.
4) We have studied the effects of each factor sepa-
rately, after we made some simplifications by con-
trolling the interference from other factors. The syn-
thetic heat transfer problem in the variable tempera-
ture layer and the hydrothermal coupling problem
will be relegated to future studies.
Acknowledgements
This study was supported in part by the Jiangsu
Natural Science Foundation of China (BK2007145)
and by the Program for New Century Excellent Tal-
ents in University (NCET-04-0454 to Dr X Z Li).
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