A COMSOL-based numerical approach to improve heat-pulse measured frozen soil thermal properties

作者：Junru Chen, Shuna Feng, Miles Dyck, Francis Zvomuya, Xiaobin Li, Hailong He · 发表于：Geoderma · 年份：2025 · DOI：10.1016/j.geoderma.2025.117531 · 被引用次数：2 · 研究领域：Climate change and permafrost、Cryospheric studies and observations、Geothermal Energy Systems and Applications

• COMSOL modeling improves the accuracy of frozen soil thermal conductivity. • Phase change parameter optimization improves accuracy at −4 to 0 °C. • Numerical simulation overcomes the limitations of analytical solutions. • Heating strategy affects phase transition parameter selection. Heat pulse (HP) is the most widely used transient technique determining soil thermal properties (STPs) in unfrozen conditions, yet its application to frozen soils introduces significant challenges. At high subfreezing temperatures (−5 to 0 °C), the HP measurements induce thawing and refreezing of ice, dynamically altering the frozen soil thermal properties (FSTPs) being measured. Conventional analytical solutions fail to account for these phase change effects, leading to substantial errors in estimation. Although various approaches have been developed to improve FSTPs determination, achieving accurate measurements remain challenging. This study employed a COMSOL-based numerical model to solve heat conduction equations incorporating latent heat and compared the results with that obtained with traditional analytical solutions. The results revealed that analytical solutions consistently underestimate frozen soil thermal conductivity (FSTC) at temperatures above −3 °C, even with optimized heating strategies. Numerical simulations demonstrated that phase transition parameters critically influence temperature evolution, particularly above −5 °C, and the COMSOL improved FSTC estimates between −4 and 0...