Thermal and Hydraulic Properties of Sandy Soils during Drying and Wetting Cycles

Ali, Alexis; Mohamed, Mostafa; Aal, Mohamed Abdel; Schellart, Alma; Tait, Simon

doi:10.1061/9780784413456.014

Cited by 1 publication

(1 citation statement)

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“…Variations in air entrapment significantly impact water flow (Fayer & Hillel, 1986a, 1986b; Stauffer & Dracos, 1984) and, due to a strong correlation with air‐filled porosity, also affect the unsaturated thermal conductivity (Ochsner et al., 2001). Experimental studies have shown that the degree of hysteresis in unsaturated thermal conductivity curves heavily depends on soil structure and soil type (Ali et al., 2014; Cardoso et al., 2018; Farouki, 1981; Nguyen et al., 2017, 2018; Smits et al., 2010; Tang et al., 2008; Vu et al., 2023; Xu et al., 2020; Zhou et al., 2019). Soils with different grain size distributions and types, including those prepared in undisturbed or compacted states, exhibit varying pore structures, leading to different levels of air entrapment during drying‐wetting cycles and, consequently, varying degrees of hysteresis in the unsaturated thermal conductivity ( λ ).…”

Section: Model Limitations Scope Of Applications and Future Outlookmentioning

confidence: 99%

Pore unit cell network modeling of the thermal conductivity dynamics in unsaturated sandy soils: Unveiling the role of spanning‐wetting phase cluster

Mirghafari,

Helforoosh,

Nikooee

et al. 2024

Vadose Zone Journal

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As the world struggles with climate change and energy crises, understanding the role of soil in the food–water–energy nexus becomes increasingly critical. Accurately estimating the soil thermal conductivity drying curve is essential for assessing the impacts of temperature on soil biota and crop growth, environmental changes due to forest fires and global warming, and for designing geo‐energy extraction techniques such as geothermal energy piles. Existing empirical models often fail to accurately estimate the soil thermal conductivity (TC), particularly in pendular soil moisture regimes where they do not capture sharp changes in TC. This study introduces a novel approach using a pore unit cell network model to more accurately describe the dynamics of TC in variably saturated soils. A quadratic parallel scheme within each soil pore unit cell links the TCs of solid, water, and air to the overall effective conductivity. By modeling air invasion in the pore network model and employing the proposed equation, we determined the unsaturated soil TC based on varying local conductivities. The model effectively captures the significant decrease in conductivity in the pendular saturation regime, associated with the shrinkage of the spanning‐wetting cluster. Quantitative analyses showed a substantial improvement in prediction accuracy compared to existing models, especially under varying moisture conditions. Our findings have significant implications for better characterizing soil thermal and hydraulic properties, which are crucial for resource management in a changing climate and advancing geo‐energy technologies.

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Section: Model Limitations Scope Of Applications and Future Outlookmentioning

confidence: 99%

Pore unit cell network modeling of the thermal conductivity dynamics in unsaturated sandy soils: Unveiling the role of spanning‐wetting phase cluster

Mirghafari,

Helforoosh,

Nikooee

et al. 2024

Vadose Zone Journal

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

Thermal and Hydraulic Properties of Sandy Soils during Drying and Wetting Cycles

Cited by 1 publication

References 10 publications

Pore unit cell network modeling of the thermal conductivity dynamics in unsaturated sandy soils: Unveiling the role of spanning‐wetting phase cluster

Pore unit cell network modeling of the thermal conductivity dynamics in unsaturated sandy soils: Unveiling the role of spanning‐wetting phase cluster

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