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An Analytical Consideration of Undersoil Heating¹

ABSTRACT

The feasibility of using reject heat from electrical power plants for undersoil heating has been analytically considered. Since soil is a poor thermal conductor, a suitable arrangement of undersoil pipes is required in order to achieve a somewhat uniformly elevated soil temperature. Two-dimensional steady temperature profiles in soil resulting from a warm water pipe having a wall temperature of 37.8C were computed for several pipe configurations and surface heat transfer coefficients of 1.36 and 136 cal·sec^–1·m^–2·°C^–1. Values of heat transfer on the order of 5 cal·sec^–1·m^–1 can be obtained. Calculations indicate that in order to apply this technique for the utilization of significant portions of reject heat, the system must be viewed in terms of an agricultural power plant complex encompassing large quantities of land.

Key Words: uses of power plant reject heat • soil heating

¹ Contribution from the Department of Mechanical Engineering, Univ. of California, Berkeley.

² Associate Professor and African Graduate Fellow (AFGRAD), Department of Mechanical Engineering, University of California, Berkeley 94720.

Received for publication October 20, 1972.