Application of a concrete thermal pile in cooling the warming permafrost under climate change

Permafrost degradation caused by climate warming is posing a serious threat to the stability of cast-in-place pile foundations in warm permafrost regions.Ambient cold energy can be effectively utilized by two-phase closed thermosyphons(TPCTs)to cool the permafrost.Therefore,we installed TPCTs in a cast-in-place pile foundation to create a unique structure called a thermal pile,which effectively utilizes the TPCTs to regulate ground temperature.And we conducted a case study and numerical simulation to exhibit the cooling performance,and optimize the structure of the thermal pile.The purpose of this study is to promote the application of thermal piles in unstable permafrost regions.Based on the findings,the thermal pile operated for approximately 53%of the entire year and effectively reduced the deep ground temperature at a rate of at least-0.1℃per year.Additionally,it successfully raised the permafrost table that is 0.35 m shallower than the natural ground level.These characteristics prove highly beneficial in mitigating the adverse effects of permafrost degradation and enhancing infrastructure safety.Expanding the length of the condenser section and the diameter of the TPCT in a suitable manner can effectively enhance the cooling capability of the thermal pile and ensure the long-term mechanical stability of the pile foundation even under climate warming.

Highway Roadway Stability Influenced by Warm Permafrost and Seasonal Frost Action:A Case Study from Glennallen,Alaska,USA

Ground temperatures from four of the seven extensively studied highway cross-sections near Gulkana/Glennallen,Alaska during 1954;962,were chosen to better understand the impacts of highway construction on warm permafrost.Both the thawing of permafrost and seasonal frost action impacted on road surface stability for about 6 years until the maximum summer thaw reached about 3 m in depth.Seasonal frost action caused most of the ensuing stability problems.Unusually warm summers and the lengths of time required to re-freeze the active layer were far more important than the average annual air temperatures in determining the temperatures of the underlying shallow permafrost,or the development of taliks.The hypothesized climate warming would slightly and gradually deepen the active layer and the developed under-lying talik,but its effect would be obscured by unusually warm summers,by warmer than usual winters,and by the vari-able lengths of time of the zero curtains.At least one period of climate mini-cooling in the deeper permafrost during the early 20th century was noted.

Dynamic response of wind turbine towers in warm permafrost

Wind is a great source of renewable energy in western Alaska.Consistent winds blow across the barren tundra underlain by warm permafrost in the winter season,when the energy demand is the highest.Foundation engineering in warm permafrost has always been a challenge in wind energy development.Degrading warm permafrost poses engineering issues to design,construction,and operation of wind turbines.This paper describes the foundation design of a wind turbine built in western Alaska.It presents a system for response monitoring and load assessment,and data collected from September 2013 to March 2014.The dynamic properties are assessed based on the monitoring data,and seasonal changes in the dynamic properties of the turbine tower-foundation system and likely resonance between the spinning blades and the tower structure are discussed.These analyses of a wind turbine in warm permafrost are valuable for designing or retrofitting of foundations in warm permafrost.

Degradation of warm permafrost and talik formation on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau in 2006-2021

Permafrost is degrading globally,particularly those with low thermal stability on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau,owing to climate change.However,the inadequacy of direct research on permafrost degradation based on in-situ monitoring limits the prediction of permafrost degradation and engineering practices.This study explored the processes and modes of permafrost degradation into talik by analyzing ground temperature data from five points in the hinterland of the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau from 2006 to 2021.The results showed that the degradation of the warm permafrost layer with a geothermal gradient of zero occurred simultaneously in the top and bottom directions.The rate of permafrost degradation from the top down and bottom up increase during the degradation process,but the increase of the former is more drastic after the formation of thawed interlayer.Additionally,the construction of the Qinghai-Tibet Railway changed the degradation modes of the permafrost in adjacent natural sites through horizontal heat transfer,particularly after through talik formation under the embankment.The findings suggest that taking countermeasures before or immediately after forming thawed interlayer is more effective.When evaluating the thermal impact of projects in warm permafrost regions,special attention should be given to the horizontal heat transfer process that may result from the formation of a through talik.

Warming effects on permafrost ecosystem carbon fluxes controlled by plant nutrients

With the support by the National Natural Science Foundation of China,a recent study by the research group led by Prof.Yang Yuanhe(杨元合)from the Institute of Botany,Chinese Academy of Sciences shows that plant nutrients control the response of permafrost ecosystem carbon fluxes to warming。

Full-scale site evaluation of ventilation expressway embankments underlain by warm permafrost along the Gonghe−Yushu Expressway

Ventilation embankments,including those with forced ventilation,natural ventilation,and combination of these,were adopted for the construction of the Gonghe−Yushu Expressway in warm permafrost areas.To evaluate the actual thermal performance of ventilation embankment in the Qinghai−Tibet Plateau,four types of ventilation embankments were selected as objects,and their long-term thermal characteristics were analyzed based on monitoring data.It was found that:1)under the strong scale effect of a wide embankment,the crushed-rock embankment(CRE)was warming up and the permafrost table was declining year by year.Meanwhile,the combined ventilated slab and CRE and ventilated ducts embankment can effectively decrease the ground temperature and raise permafrost table in the year with a colder winter;2)transverse temperature difference caused by the shady–sunny slope effect existed in all the four embankments.However,it was weakened by the combined ventilated slab and CRE and the ventilated ducts embankment due to their stronger cooling effect;and 3)the pre-existing embankment had a remarkable thermal disturbance to the adjacent newly-built embankment,so a reasonable embankment spacing should be considered in practical engineering.These findings would provide a reference for construction of expressway embankments in permafrost regions.

Field observations of the thermal stability of permafrost under buildings with an underfloor open ventilation space and pile foundations in warm permafrost at high altitudes

Pile foundations combined with ventilation spaces under floors are the most common method in buildings over permafrost.The safety and stability of buildings are closely related to the temperature of permafrost.However,there are limitations of understanding on this method in the high-altitude,warm(>−1℃)permafrost areas on the Qinghai–Tibet Plateau.In this study,the thermal stability of permafrost foundation soils under buildings with an underfloor open ventilation space and pile foundations in warm permafrost at high altitudes was studied through field observations of ground and air temperatures,wind speed,net radiation from 2017 to 2021.The results indicated that the open ventilation space exerted an effective cooling effect on the underlying permafrost and pile foundations from March to October,while a thermal insulation effect was observed from November to February of the following year,but overall,the cooling effect dominated;the cooling effect of open ventilation spaces differed spatially.The permafrost temperature on the south-facing side was higher than that on the north-facing side,and those on the east and west sides were higher than that directly under the open ventilation space of the building.This study also demonstrated that radiation shielded by the building was a main factor of the cooling effect of open ventilation spaces,and the cooling effect of open ventilation spaces could accelerate the back-freezing of the cast-in-place(CIP)pile foundations.This structure could effectively maintain the frozen state of the underlying warm permafrost at high elevations on the interior Qinghai–Tibet Plateau.