ENERGY GEOTECHNICS - 2025/6

Module Overview

This module is designed to provide necessary geotechnical design concepts of deep foundation and deep geological storage facilities related to some of the current and emerging energy projects. They include renewable energy systems (offshore and onshore wind turbine generator foundations), foundations for offshore oil and gas installations, geothermal energy pile foundation and nuclear power plant foundations There will also be specialised lectures on high level nuclear waste disposal and carbon geo-sequestration, methane hydrates and compressed air energy storage.

It is expected that students taking this module have a background knowledge of soil mechanics and structural mechanics to the level of final year Bachelor of Engineering..

Module provider

Sustainability, Civil & Env Engineering

Module Leader

CAO Benyi (Sust & CEE)

Number of Credits: 15

ECTS Credits: 7.5

Framework: FHEQ Level 7

Module cap (Maximum number of students): N/A

Module Availability

Semester 1

Prerequisites / Co-requisites

None

Module content

Indicative content includes

• Geothermal Energy Pile (Thermal Pile) Foundation

Heat transfer in the ground, ground source heat pump (GSHP), vertical loop heat exchanger, horizontal loop heat exchanger, water source heat pump (WSHP), thermal response test (TRT), ground thermal properties (thermal conductivity, heat capacity, diffusivity), design of GSHP based on British code of practice, Numerical modelling of energy piles, Energy foundations and earth contact underground structures (geothermal energy pile foundation, base slab, diaphragm wall, basement wall and tunnel), heating and cooling structures (building, pavement, bridge decks), Thermo-Mechanical (TM) design of geothermal energy pile, installation of heat exchanging loops, construction of thermal pile, ground thermal recovery and recharge

• Wind and marine turbine foundations

Conceptual design of wind farms (site layout, geology of the site, spacing, overall structure, types of turbines and turbine characteristics), Loading on wind turbines foundations (wind spectrum, wave spectrum, 1P loading, 3P loading),  Types of foundations (Onshore and Offshore: monopile, suction caisson, tripod, tetrapod, floating system, jacket), Installation of offshore foundations, Design considerations (effects of cyclic loading, ultimate capacity, natural frequency estimates, accumulation of rotation, fatigue design),  Dynamic-Soil-Structure-Interaction, Designing foundations based on codes of practice. 

• Foundations for Offshore Oil and Gas installations

Different types of foundations, foundation design considerations for gravity base structure, jacket structures, floating structures such as FPSO's, TLP's, offshore site investigations, design of pipelines (upheaval buckling, on-bottom pipelines), design of foundations based on API method

• Nuclear Power Plant foundation

Foundation design solutions for a nuclear reactor building, dynamic soil-structure issues, site investigation required for analysis and design, codes of practice, case studies.

• Nuclear Waste Disposal

Type and source of nuclear waste, hazardous waste management and waste disposal policy, high-level nuclear waste disposal, design and construction of nuclear waste repository (deep geological disposal facility), design of engineering barrier, unsaturated soil behaviour, total suction, matric suction, water retention curves,  thermal properties, thermo-consolidation, Thermo-hydro-mechanical (THM) analysis, theoretical formulation and constitutive modelling, determination of material parameters for numerical modelling   

• Carbon Geo-sequestration

Carbon sequestration technologies, carbon capture and subsurface geological storage (geo-sequestration), enhanced oil recovery (EOR), saline aquifers and sedimentary rocks reservoir, enhanced coal bed methane (ECBM) recovery, abandoned mines, supercritical CO2, flow and mechanical characteristics of porous rocks, stress-strain relationships, rock failure criteria, determination of mechanical properties, measurement and modelling of rock permeability

• Methane hydrates and compressed air energy storage

Introduction to methane hydrates (MH) and compressed air energy storage (CAES), reserves of MH, production method, mechanical properties of MH bearing sediments, CAES using underground storage facilities

Assessment pattern

Alternative Assessment

N\A

Assessment Strategy

The assessment strategy is designed to provide students with the opportunity to demonstrate

• Knowledge and understanding of principles of specialist foundation design (LO’s 1-5) through open book examination.


• Solving open-ended problems such as a foundation design using numerical modelling, real data, ability to interpret soil test data to obtain the design parameters (LO 5) is assessed through coursework.

Thus, the summative assessment for this module consists of:

·         Coursework [Learning outcomes assessed 5] 

·         Examination [Learning outcomes assessed 1, 2, 3, 4, 5] 

 

Formative assessment and feedback

Formative Feedback will be through a range of self assessment exercises and quizzes held in the class.

Students will receive written feedback on their coursework.

Module aims

• to discuss the energy challenge and introduce a new emerging discipline
• to provide an appreciation of the complexity of foundation design in offshore and the technolgical challenges in deep water hydrocarbon exploration
• to introduce the different types of foundations for energy projects and the guiding design principles
• to provide ability to carry out analysis and design of foundations for offshore wind turbine, oil and gas installations, nuclear power station
• to provide the ability to recognise the uncertainties in foundation design and need for site investigation 
• to provide a broader understanding on the geotechnical design aspects of the geothermal energy pile
• to understand design challenges involved in deep geological storage facilities related to nuclear waste disposal, carbon geosequestartion, compressed air energy storage

Learning outcomes

Methods of Teaching / Learning

The learning and teaching strategy is designed to:

• provide a specialist knowledge of foundation design and deep geological storage facilities related to energy sector, and will be delivered principally by lectures


• Design renewable energy systems such as Offshore Wind Farm


• Analysing field data and through a course work.

The learning and teaching methods include:

Lectures, tutorials to enhance problem solving skills, Specialist seminars, captured content and a laboratory class. The topics that will be covered include:

• Geothermal energy pile foundation lectures/tutorials


• Wind and marine foundations lectures/tutorials


• Foundations for offshore oil and gas installation lectures/tutorials


• Nuclear power plant foundations lectures/tutorials


• Nuclear waste disposal lectures/tutorials


• Carbon geo-sequestration lectures/tutorials


• Methane hydrate and compressed air energy storage lectures


• Directed and guided reading

Indicated Lecture Hours (which may also include seminars, tutorials, workshops and other contact time) are approximate and may include in-class tests where one or more of these are an assessment on the module. In-class tests are scheduled/organised separately to taught content and will be published on to student personal timetables, where they apply to taken modules, as soon as they are finalised by central administration. This will usually be after the initial publication of the teaching timetable for the relevant semester.

Reading list

https://readinglists.surrey.ac.uk
Upon accessing the reading list, please search for the module using the module code: ENGM270

Other information

Surrey's Curriculum Framework is committed to developing graduates with strengths in Employability, Digital Capabilities, Global and Cultural Capabilities, Sustainability and Resourcefulness and Resilience. This module is designed to allow students to develop knowledge, skills and capabilities in the following areas:

Digital capabilities: Use of industry standard software to analyse problems. 

Employability: Course Work on Wind Farm design will allow use of practical data and will enhance employability.  

Global: Study of international codes of practice for foundation design will enhance global opportunities.  

Sustainability: Offshore Wind Turbines and Ground Sources Heat Pump are sustainable technologies.  

Please note that the information detailed within this record is accurate at the time of publishing and may be subject to change. This record contains information for the most up to date version of the programme / module for the 2025/6 academic year.