Considerations in thermal behavior of rock mass around openings due to storage of heated water

The authors have proposed and discussed temporary storage of heated water in openings excavated in rock mountains. Heated water, produced by surplus heat from garbage burning plants, should be used for many purposes such as district heating heated water supply, green houses, etc. In this case, the rock mass around openings will receive the affect of thermal hysteresis of high temperatures as the storage quantity of heated water continually changes according to its use. In this study, strength and deformation characteristics of some types of rocks were examined after receiving thermal hysteresis of high temperatures. The effects of the amount of thermal hysteresis, atmospheric temperature, porosity, etc, on strength and deformation characteristics of rocks were discussed. The results of the tests mentioned above were used for analyzing temperature and stress distribution around openings by using the Finite Divided Element Method and FEM. Then the effect of thermal hysteresis of high temperatures on thermal behavior of some types of rock mass around openings was discussed.