Evaluation of the underground soil thermal storage properties in Libya

Experimental investigation was conducted of temperature distribution through the underground soil of Tripoli (Capital of Libya). The aim of the experiment is to monitor the temperature variation of the underground soil under a depth of 4m and around the year, in order to know the thermal capacity ability of the soil to be used as a seasonal thermal storage. The measurements covered two types of systems: the first one is dry soil and the second is dry soil covered by a glass sheet. The measurements indicate that, at a depth of 4m, the average temperatures for the dry and dry-glass covered systems are 21, 46°C, with maximum temperatures of 21.5 and 47°C during December and January, and the minimum temperatures occurred in May and June, are reached values of 19, 44°C, respectively. The temperatures for the two systems were almost constant through the year and fluctuating with a monthly period of 2π/12. Results show that, the underground thermal capacity can be used as a source of heating and cooling of buildings leading to reduce the energy consumption in this application. Furthermore, for industrial and domestic heating processes, one can utilize the dry-glass covered system to cover a significant part of the heating load. Anyhow, the experimental study may not applicable everywhere, so an analytical presentation for the system will be necessary to save money and efforts. The first step to put the analytical model in reality is to get the thermal properties of the underground soil, and this is the aim of the present study.