Council of Canadian Academies

Snow and ice accumulation on transportation infrastructure presents significant safety and maintenance challenges in cold regions, while conventional removal methods are both energy-intensive and environmentally detrimental. This study proposes a passive Heat Pipe–Coupled Geothermal Snow Melting System (HP-GSMS) that harnesses shallow geothermal energy to maintain snow-free surfaces without external energy input. Using Fluent-based CFD simulations, the system’s thermal performance was evaluated under various working fluids (ammonia, carbon dioxide, water) and pipe materials (stainless steel, aluminum). A one-dimensional thermal resistance model validated the CFD results under ammonia–stainless steel conditions, predicting a heat flux of 358.6 W/m2 compared to 361.0 W/m2 from the simulation, with a deviation of only 0.66%, confirming model accuracy. Ammonia demonstrated superior phase-change efficiency, with the aluminum–ammonia configuration yielding the highest heat flux (up to 677 W/m2), surpassing typical snow-melting thresholds. Aluminum pipes enhanced radial heat conduction without compromising phase stability, while water exhibited poor phase-change performance and CO2 showed moderate but stable behavior. Additionally, a dynamic three-node RC thermal network was employed to assess transient performance under realistic diurnal temperature variations, revealing surface heat fluxes ranging from 230 to 460 W/m2, with a daily average of approximately 340 W/m2. These findings demonstrate the HP-GSMS’s practical viability in cold climates and underscore the importance of selecting low-boiling-point fluids and high-conductivity materials for scalable, energy-efficient, and low-carbon snow-melting applications in urban infrastructure.