What does a geotechnical engineer do?

Geotechnical engineers have traditionally been at the core of the energy sector, solving problems associated with resource recovery, energy transportation, and energy waste management. In the last few years, geotechnical engineering has expanded its presence in the energy sector by forming the new research area of Energy Geotechnics.

How do geotechnical engineers work with energy storage?

Geotechnical engineers have been involved with energy storage through the design of reservoirs for pumped-hydro energy storage, where water is pumped to a reservoir with higher elevation during times when electricity costs are low, and electricity is generated through hydro-power.

What is energy geotechnics?

An underlying theme among the different topics within Energy Geotechnics is the need to predict the flow of fluids and transfer of heat in porous or fractured media, and understand the coupled role of, or impacts on, the mechanical response of the media (i.e., volume change, changes in stiffness, changes in strength).

What are energy geo-structures?

Energy geo-structures such as energy piles, diaphragm walls, tunnels, and geosynthetic-reinforced retaining walls can utilize the ground for heating and cooling of structures, storage of heat, or dissipation of waste heat.

What are energy generation applications involving geotechnics?

Energy generation applications involving geotechnics include recovery and characterization of gas hydrate-bearing sediments, development of enhanced geothermal systems (EGS) for electrical power generation, and collection of hydrocarbons from challenging geological settings.

Can geotechnical infrastructure be used as a heat exchanger?

A key aspect in using any geotechnical infrastructure component as a heat exchanger is its thermal properties, and equally relevant are the techniques used to incorporate these properties into heat transfer simulations used to design heating and cooling systems for buildings.