Abstract :
An experimental study of thermal and moisture behaviors of dry and wet soils heated by buried capillary plaits was
done. This study was carried out on a prototype similar to an agricultural tunnel greenhouse. The experimental procedure
consisted on three different measuring phases distinguished by three different operational conditions of the capillary
plaits: heating at 70 C, heating at 40 C and without heating in summer. During an experimental run, quantities
measured are soil temperature, soil water content at various depths, soil surface heat flux, solar radiation under the
plastic cover, internal relative humidity, internal and external air t\emperature. In unsaturated moist soils, the transport
of heat is complicated by the fact that heat and mass transfer is a coupled process. During the daily soil temperature
variation, it was found that the surface temperature amplitude was higher in wet soil than in dry soil. The water content
increased during daytime and decreased during nighttime. The diurnal variation amplitude of water content was higher
without underground heating and decreased with the buried heat source temperature.
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