Experiments and simulations of underground artificial freezing with the use of natural cold resources in cold regions

• A novel artificial freezing method consuming low energy was investigated.
• The method combining air-cooling and refrigeration units used for cold region.
• The air-cooling experiment was carried out with a well refrigeration effects.
• This approach effectively reduces refrigeration power load and project cost.
• This eco-friendly method avoids the influence of ambient temperature instability.

This study proposes an artificial freezing method that consumes low energy by combining air-cooling and a conventional method. The method fully utilizes a naturally low air temperature in a cold region, which reduces freezing costs and avoids environmental influence. A refrigeration experimental platform is designed to study the refrigeration effects of natural cold sources. A mathematical model is built to analyze the evolution of temperature. And the temperature field was simulated by software----ANSYS. The simulated results match the experimental data well and verify the feasibility of the proposed method. Moreover, air-cooling economy and conventional refrigeration are analyzed. The running cost and power of the air-cooling method are respectively reduced by 52% and 53.4% when compared with the values for the conventional method. This approach effectively reduces refrigeration power load and project cost, consumes low energy, and is environment friendly. This study can thus serve as a reference for new ideas on underground artificial freezing.