Some aspects of artificial thawing of frozen soils

Despite its important practical value the problem of artificial thawing of frozen soils by the vertical, cylindrical defreezer-pipe method has been studied only comparatively recently.

To facilitate excavation and/or foundation work in frozen soil in seasonally freezing and/or permafrost regions, the frozen soil can be loosened up, among other methods, by artificial thawing. For this purpose it is necessary to evaluate the amount of thermal energy needed to bring about the desired thawing. Such an evaluation involves consideration of the relationships between the frozen and thawed soil properties; temperature of the defrosting agent; the size and spacing of the defreezer pipes; and the time required to thaw a certain amount of frozen soil. Although in practice several methods are used for artificial thawing, in this paper, discussion on and calculations for defrosting of frozen soil are presented relative only to thawing by means of vertically installed defreezer pipes.