Field and Laboratory Investigation of a Heat Exchanger Pile

Incorporation of heat exchangers into pile foundations is a relatively novel sustainable technology for the intermittent storage of energy in soils. Energy can be utilised in this way for space heating and cooling of buildings by means of suitable systems integrated into buildings. This paper relates to an ongoing study on the impact of coupled thermo-mechanical loads on heat exchanger pile foundations. This study evaluates the performance of a laboratory scale energy pile under different vertical stress levels, temperature gradients and heat transfer modes and presents the full-scale in situ energy pile setup equipped with ground loops for heating/cooling and multi-level Osterberg cells for static load testing