Keeping It Frozen
The Wall Street Journal reported on how engineers in Alaska are turning to thermosyphons to keep thawing permafrost stable under pipelines, railways, roads and buildings.
The article explains how the devices work: a sealed tube, partly buried, uses the winter cold to draw heat out of the ground with no power source. It notes that the Trans-Alaska Pipeline relies on tens of thousands of them, and that use has spread to schools, water tanks, utility poles, roads and even fence posts.
The report also covered Arctic Foundations of Canada, noting that sales had tripled over the previous five years, driven in part by new mines in the Canadian Arctic.
The full article, “Keeping It Frozen,” is available from The Wall Street Journal.