Numerical simulation of temperature field of a new type of freezing device under seepage effect

PLoS One. 2024 May 16;19(5):e0298003. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0298003. eCollection 2024.

Abstract

In order to investigate the development of the temperature field of a new type of freezing reinforcement under seepage conditions, in this paper, COMSOL finite element software was used to simplify the model and simulate the effect of groundwater seepage on the development of the temperature field of frozen pipes by coupling the Darcy's law module and the heat transfer module for porous media. The heads of water were also varied to simulate the change in seepage velocity to further investigate the effect of seepage velocity on the temperature field. The results of the study show that the freezing wall formed in the high head region was thinner than that in the low head region due to the effect of seepage, and this phenomenon was aggravated with the increase of seepage rate; The effect of seepage action on the temperature field had a hysteresis along the seepage direction; When the seepage rate was greater than 1.65 m/d, the soil in the center of the device feezed better and could form a tight and dense freezing wall comparable to the size of the freezing device; When the seepage rate was greater than 5.78 m/d, the temperature of the center soil body gradually increased, and eventually the freezing curtain cannot be formed.

MeSH terms

  • Computer Simulation*
  • Freezing*
  • Groundwater
  • Models, Theoretical
  • Temperature

Grants and funding

This research was funded by the Qing Lan Project of Jiangsu University (2022), the Young PhD Fund Project of Jiangsu Collaborative Innovation Center for Building Energy Saving and Construct Technology (SJXTBZ2112) and the Natural Science Foundation of the Jiangsu Higher Education Institutions of China (23KJA560004) The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.