Determination of the effective thermal conductivity

In the case of excavation enclosures where no cement-containing building materials were used, no temperature increase compared to the environment occurs due to the missing hydration processes. Therefore, the use of simple temperature measurements for leak detection is rather limited. Both the heat pulse method and the frost pulse method are more appropriate for such tasks.

In foundation engineering, the heat pulse method (HPM) is mainly used to locate leaks in sealing systems. In the field of geothermal energy production, the method is used to test the geothermal heat pumps for efficiency. HPM can also be used to in-situ determine the thermal material parameters and the effective thermal conductivity in concrete construction. In addition, HPM is used to measure groundwater flow velocities in sediments and for fluid logging in boreholes.

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