US-Egypt Cooperative Research: Geothermal Energy Piles: A New Sustainable Green Energy Solution for Middle East Buildings

1128023 该项目支持弗吉尼亚理工大学的James Martin博士和Guney Olgun博士的合作研究项目。和埃及开罗大学的Amr Darrag博士。 他们计划对地热能桩进行研究，作为一种新的建筑物可持续绿色能源解决方案，特别是在中东。世界各地都对探索替代能源有着浓厚的兴趣。驱动力包括能源需求不断增长、自然资源枯竭以及化石燃料消费产生的温室气体排放的不利影响。能量桩是一种相对较新的深基础工程技术，设计用于接近和利用地面的相对恒定温度（即，它们从地面提取热能）用于结构的有效加热和冷却。在理想情况下，它们可以将建筑物的供暖和制冷成本降低80%，同时有助于减少温室气体排放问题。 虽然在过去的十年里，能源桩在欧洲和日本的使用量稳步增加，但在它们在全球范围内普遍使用之前，还需要进行更多的研究。智力优势：有必要调查能源桩的长期热机械行为。 与埃及研究人员的合作将推进美国PI目前正在进行的研究。 PI计划进行全面的现场测试，以提高对能源桩行为的理解，并开发实验室测试设备，以提高能源桩的测试能力，包括继续进行能源桩的有限元分析。 PI组织的研讨会确定了广泛使用这些桩的某些障碍，例如缺乏长期能源桩性能数据，缺乏完善的设计和测试标准，缺乏特定区域的现场案例历史，业主和工程师缺乏意识，以及地热威尔斯安装的各种法规。这项建议将有助于解决这些问题。 该项目将扩大PI正在进行的工作，目前涉及欧洲和美国，通过开发优化能源桩设计和促进埃及使用所需的特定区域的现场性能数据。 更广泛的影响：目前，工程师、承包商和业主不愿意在基础中加入能源桩，因为担心热效应对基础的承载能力产生影响。 这项研究可能有助于减少他们的一些担忧。 美国的私人投资者正在为此目的与深基础行业合作。 在建筑物地基中使用能源桩将加强旨在提高能源效率和减少能源需求的绿色建筑工作。 这项工作将促进能源桩在中东和美国的更广泛使用。能量桩是发展零能耗建筑的重要组成部分。 该项目涉及一个重要的国际合作，包括为开罗大学的博士生和开罗大学的学生提供独特的教育机会，并可能继续与Deep Foundation Institute（DFI）合作。该项目将促进中东地区更广泛地使用这项新技术，因为中东地区越来越需要更有效的冷却解决方案。 此外，由于这项工作涉及创新的能源技术，它有很大的潜力，创造埃及的就业机会，在绿色能源领域。该项目还将有助于为开罗大学和弗吉尼亚理工大学之间的土木工程联合学位课程奠定基础。研究结果将通过期刊、互联网传播，并纳入学术课程和PI？为ASCE、FERC、USACE等提供专业短期课程。这方面的主要合作伙伴将是DFI和美国绿色建筑理事会（USGBC）。

1128023 This project supports a cooperative research project by Dr. James Martin, Dr. Guney Olgun both at Virginia Tech. and Dr. Amr Darrag, Cairo University, Egypt. They plan to conduct research on Geothermal Energy Piles as a new sustainable green Energy solution for buildings, especially in the Middle East. There is a strong interest around the world in exploring alternative energy sources. Among the driving forces are growing energy demand, depleting natural resources and the adverse effects of greenhouse gas emissions from fossil fuel consumption. Energy Piles are a relatively new deep foundation engineering technology designed to access and exploit the relatively constant temperature of the ground (i.e., they extract heat energy from the ground) for efficient heating and cooling of structures. In ideal conditions, they can reduce heating and cooling costs of buildings by as much as 80%, and simultaneously help reduce the problem of greenhouse gas emissions. Although the use of Energy Piles has seen steady increasing usage in Europe and Japan over the past decade, more research is needed before they can enjoy common usage worldwide. Intellectual merits: There is a need to investigate the long term thermo-mechanical behavior of energy piles. The collaboration with researchers in Egypt would advance research that the US PIs are currently conducting. The PIs plan to conduct a full scale field test which will improve understanding of the behavior energy piles, and to develop laboratory test equipment which will improve testing capabilities for energy pile, including continuing to conduct FEM analysis of energy piles. A workshop organized by the PIs has identified certain barriers to the wide use of these piles, such as the lack of long-term Energy Pile performance data, a lack of refined design and testing standards, a lack of region specific field case histories, a lack of awareness among owners and engineers, and widely varying regulations for installation of geothermal wells. This proposal will help addressing these issues. The project will expand the PIs' ongoing work, currently involving Europe and the US, by developing region specific field performance data needed to optimize Energy Pile design and promote usage in Egypt. Broader impacts: Currently there is reluctance by engineers, contractors and owners to incorporate energy piles in foundations because of concerns of the thermal effects on the load carrying capacities of the foundations. This research could help to reduce some of their concerns. The US PIs are working with the deep foundations industry for this purpose. The use of energy piles in building foundations will enhance green construction efforts directed towards increasing energy efficiency and reducing energy demands. The work will promote wider usage of energy piles in the Middle East and in the US. Energy Pile may be an important part to the development of net-zero energy buildings. The project involves a significant international collaboration, including unique educational opportunities for a PhD student at VirginiaTech and students at Cairo University, and will likely continue partnering with Deep Foundation Institute (DFI). The project will promote wider usage of this new technology in the Middle East where more efficient solutions for cooling are increasingly needed. Also, because this work involves an innovative energy technology, it has great potential to create Egyptian jobs in the field of green energy. The project would also help lay the groundwork for a joint degree program in civil engineering between Cairo University and Virginia Tech. The findings will be disseminated via journals, the Internet, and incorporated into academic courses and the PIs? professional short courses for ASCE, FERC, USACE, etc. Key partners in this effort will be DFI and the US Green Building Council (USGBC).