TUCSS Bimonthly YM Webinar No.

Event details

Please register via Zoom link below.

TUCSS Bimonthly YM Webinar No. 3 – Thursday, 4 February 2021, 5:30 pm

Energy tunnels, concept, design and applications

by Marco Barla, Politecnico di Torino

Abstract

In the next decades new projects involving the use of renewable energy sources will be needed to achieve a noticeable increase in energy production from renewable energy sources (RES) aimed at reducing carbon

dioxide emissions and at meeting targets required by the EU. In this context a clean, renewable and locally available thermal energy source can be provided by the use of energy geostructures.

Energy tunnels represents an interesting alternative to traditional shallow geothermal technologies, justified by the fact that the amount of ground involved is larger than for piles and foundations. By thermally activating the structural elements of a construction in direct contact with the ground, a low enthalpy geothermal system can be achieved. By embedding a circuit of pipes into the concrete segments of the lining heat can be exploited from the ground and moved to a secondary circuit, that of the user. In 2016 at the Politecnico di Torino a new energy segmental lining named Enertun was introduced and an experimental prototype of energy tunnel was installed in the tunnel of the Turin Metro Line 1.

Data collected allowed to evaluate the thermal performance of the system and to study the possibility to thermally activate the tunnels of the future Line 2. The heat can be used for the conditioning of the metro stations and/or for distribution to external users. The latest is particularly attractive in the context of sustainable urban development and can be enhanced by the integration with district heating systems directly connected to the underground infrastructure. The presentation will give an overview of the research conducted in this area in the last ten years.

Speaker

Marco Barla is Associate Professor of Geotechnical Engineering at the Department of Structural, Geotechnical and Building Engineering (DISEG) of the Politecnico di Torino. He is the coordinator of a research group that carries out activities in the field of laboratory testing on soils and rocks, numerical modeling, tunnel excavation, slope stability, monitoring with ground-based radar and energy geostructures (www.rockmech.polito.it). He is the Editor in Chief of the ASCE International journal of Geomechanics, the President of ELGIP, European Large Geotechnical Institutes Platform, and Chair of the next Iacmag 2021 conference. He holds academic duties as the Rector's Advisor for sports activities, President of the University Sports Committee, member of the University Quality Control Center and member of the Department's Board.

Marco Barla is author of a textbook and of almost two hundred of scientific papers on international and national journals, on conference proceedings, as well as editor of conference proceedings. Moreover, gained more than 20 years’ experience as a consultant and founder of Resolving (now Geosolving srl, a full engineering company), a spin off company of the Politecnico active in geotechnical engineering and holds the patent of the Enertun system.

Time and Place

As the speaker will present from overseas, the presentation will take electronically on Thursday, 4 February 2021 at 17:30 hrs Singapore time. The presentation will be approximately 45 minutes long, with 15 minutes of questions/discussion afterwards.

Invitation

This is a bimonthly series of presentations by TUCSS Young Members Group and is open to valid TUCSS Members and overseas ITA branches. Seats are on first-come-first-served basis and limited to 500 persons. Young Members below the age of 35 and students will be given preferential admission.

Registration

For registration, please click here.

The deadline for registration is Monday, 25 January 2021 or when we reach 500 persons whichever is earlier.

PDU/STU

No PDU or STU points for this webinar.

Note to Members

Note 1: Some of you key in your name and TUCSS registration details through Chat function and it is not required. Please do not send anything through Chat function during the presentation.

Note 2: We noted higher no-show at the last TUCSS monthly seminar. As the seats are limited, please register only if you can attend the seminar. We hope to seek your cooperation.

Note 3: If you have suggestions/feedback for us to improve the online seminar, do email to us. Especially since the young members webinar is a new format, we appreciate feedback. Thank you.