Research on the Influence of Water Vapor Diffusion and Evaporation on Water and Heat Transfer in Frozen Soil

Abstract

Considering the model that the hydrothermal coupling moving rule of the seasonal frozen soil under freezing and thawing effect, a research was made that how deep we bury and the soil texture are to effect the rule of the diffusion and evaporation of water vapor. By monitoring the moisture content and temperature of the profile of the continuous freezing and thawing soil in region named Xiaotangshan mountain in Beijing and using the hydrothermal coupling moving model, the water transferring rule of clay and sandy loam in different depth that we buried was summarized. Many long-term field experiments showed that when frozen layer buried in a deep way was in a frozen state, the interactive movement of the water in the soil was not active and evaporated slowly. The average value of the water evaporation of clay was about 0.51 mm/day approximately and the situation of the sandy loam soil was 1.24 mm/day. By qualitative analyzing and observation, the less we buried (less than 0.8 m), the ice in the frozen soil layer got more. Besides, the density of the frozen soil layer went higher but the water barely diffused. On the contrary, with the increase of the depth, the diffusion went stronger and stronger due to the contact between the soil and the groundwater. In addition, according to the different soil texture detections, the diameter of soil particle has great influence on the diffusion of the water vapor in the soil. The diffusion rate of the water vapor in the sandy loam soil was twice than that of in clay. Other field water coupling experiments showed that, the soil moisture content was greater, soil freezing period density was larger, and soil water infiltration rate was zero. Soil evaporation was gradually decreased with the increasing of groundwater depth, and the size of soil particle would have a more obvious effect on soil water vapor diffusion and evaporation. Our research results can provide scientific basis for the buried area where contains groundwater to keep moisture in the winter and the resource content of the groundwater in Beijing and the locations in the same latitude of Beijing. This paper’s purpose was to research the law of water vapor diffusion and evaporation, with different soil texture and burial depth, so it can verify the coupled model of seasonal frozen soil water and heat migration.