Numerical modeling of air velocity distribution in a road tunnel with a longitudinal ventilation system

2019 ◽  
Vol 91 ◽  
pp. 103003 ◽  
Author(s):  
Aleksander Król ◽  
Małgorzata Król ◽  
Piotr Koper ◽  
Paweł Wrona
Author(s):  
Ti-Sheng HUANG ◽  
Nobuyoshi KAWABATA ◽  
Miho SEIKE ◽  
Masato HASEGAWA ◽  
Futoshi TANAKA ◽  
...  

Author(s):  
Felipe Vittori ◽  
Luis Rojas-Solo´rzano ◽  
Armando J. Blanco ◽  
Rafael Urbina

This work deals with the numerical (CFD) analysis of the smoke propagation during fires within closed environments. It is evaluated the capacity of the emergency ventilation system in controlling the smoke propagation and minimizing the deadly impact of an eventual fire in a wagon within the Metro de Caracas subway tunnel on the passengers safety. For the study, it was chosen the tunnel section between Teatros and Nuevo Circo subway stations, which consists of two parallel independent twin tunnels, connected through a transverse passage. The tunnels are provided by a longitudinal ventilation system, integrated by a set of reversible fans located at both ends of the tunnels. Three stages were considered in the study: (a) Model set up; (b) Mesh sensitivity analysis; (c) Validation of the physical-numerical parameters to be used in the numerical model; and (d) Simulation of fire scenarios in Metro de Caracas subway stations. Stages (b)–(c), aimed to testing and calibrating the CFD tool (ANSYS-CFX10™), focused on reproducing experimental data from Vauquelin and Me´gret [1], who studied the smoke propagation in a fire within a 1:20 scale road tunnel. Stage (d) critical scenarios were established via a preliminary discussion with safety experts from Metro de Caracas, in order to reduce the computer memory and the number of simulations to be performed. The analyses assessed the reliability of escape routes and alternative paths for the evacuation of passengers. Additionally, the smoke front movement was particularly computed, as a function of time, in order to determine the possible presence of the “backlayering” phenomenon [5]. Results demonstrate the strengths and weaknesses of the current ventilation system in the event of a fire in the subway tunnel, and suggest new strategies to address this potentially lethal event to minimize the risks for passengers.


Author(s):  
Monica Galdo-Vega ◽  
Rafael Ballesteros-Tajadura ◽  
Carlos Santolaria-Morros

In this work, a numerical 3D simulation of a longitudinal ventilation system is developed to analyze the fire behavior inside a road tunnel. Recent disasters, like crashes in the Mont Blanc tunnel (France, 1999) or San Gottardo (Italy, 2001), have shown the need for better integral actions during possible fire incidents. The minimum delay time, required for starting the jet fans, or the evolution of the smoke patterns inside the tunnel are critical issues when rescue plans are designed. Some methods to study the smoke propagation during a fire are: pseudo-thermal scale models, full scale test and numerical models. Several contributions using the first method can be found in references [1], [2] and [3]. However it is very difficult to extrapolate the results from this kind of models. The second method (full scale test) is the most expensive of all and only two of them have been conducted recently: EUREKA Project [4] and the Memorial Tunnel Fire Ventilation Test Program [5]. The last method (numerical models) it is now under development. The objective of this work is to validate a numerical model, to predict the behavior of the smoke generated during a fire incident inside a road tunnel, comparing its results with previous experimental data collected in the Memorial Tunnel Project. In addition, a good agreement was achieved, so a methodology to predict the performance of a longitudinal ventilation system in case of fire was accurately established.


Author(s):  
Aleksander Król ◽  
Małgorzata Król

This paper presents the results of hot smoke tests, conducted in a real road tunnel. The tunnel is located within the expressway S69 in southern Poland between cities Żywiec and Zwardoń. Its common name is Laliki tunnel. It is a bi-directional non-urban tunnel. The length of the tunnel is 678 m and it is inclined by 4%. It is equipped with the longitudinal ventilation system. Two hot smoke tests have been carried out according to Australian Standard AS 4391-1999. Hot smoke tests corresponded to a HRR (Heat Release Rate) equal to respectively 750 kW and 1500 kW. The fire source was located in the middle of the road lane imitating an initial phase of a car fire (respectively 150 m and 265 m from S portal). The temperature distribution was recorded during both tests using a set of fourteen thermocouples mounted at two stand poles located at the main axis of the tunnel on windward. The stand poles were placed at distances of 5 m and 10 m. The recorded data were applied to validate of a numerical model built and solved using Ansys Fluent. The calculated temperature distribution matched the measured values.


2013 ◽  
Vol 639-640 ◽  
pp. 665-669 ◽  
Author(s):  
Zhen Tan ◽  
Zhi Yi Huang ◽  
Ke Wu ◽  
Lei Ting Xu

Speed control of longitudinal ventilation systems in road tunnels is being combined with typical model predictive control (MPC) strategies which may bring huge energy saving potential to the system. Theoretical analysis of the inertia effect is presented based on the energy equation of one dimensional incompressible unsteady flow, step response model is chosen to describe the dynamic behaviors of the system. The results show that the effect of jet speed change on CO concentration is nonlinear within fan’s economical working range and the settling time of CO level has similar change trend with that of the flow field but is a little longer. The system settling time is longer when jet speed decreases than it increases and is related to the change extent of jet speed. The effect of traffic intensity on CO concentration can be regarded as linear disturbance to the system output. These results may provide useful indexes to control the tunnel ventilation system more economically and lay foundation for the application of predictive control strategy in the system.


2017 ◽  
Vol 21 (suppl. 3) ◽  
pp. 783-794 ◽  
Author(s):  
Milan Sekularac ◽  
Novica Jankovic ◽  
Petar Vukoslavcevic

To develop a reliable method for modeling fire case scenarios within the road tunnels and observing the effects of the skewed velocity, experimental and numerical approach is used. Experimental results obtained from a laboratory tunnel model installation, are used to define geometry and boundary conditions. The result for the overall ventilation performance is compared to the available cases, for empty tunnel and stationary bi-directional vehicle traffic. For a unidirectional traffic road tunnel, in traffic loaded conditions, with a ventilation system based on axial ducted fans, the numerical simulation is used to determine the flow and temperature fields, the ventilation efficiency (efficiency of momentum transfer), and to assess the shape of the velocity distribution. The effect that a skewed velocity distribution can have on the resulting thermal and pollutant fields (CO2), smoke backlayering and stratification, is evaluated using numerical simulations, for the model-scale tunnel fire conditions. The effect of two possible limiting shapes of the velocity distribution, dependent only on the location of the fire with respect to the nearest upstream operating fans, is analyzed. The numerical results for a fire are scenario are a starting point in assessing the feasibility of a laboratory model fire-scenario experiment, what is planned as the next step in this research.


2018 ◽  
Vol 8 (8) ◽  
pp. 1365 ◽  
Author(s):  
Xin Zhang ◽  
Tianhang Zhang ◽  
Kai Zhu ◽  
Zhiyi Huang ◽  
Ke Wu

In longitudinal ventilation, circulating air is formed in portals for closely spaced twin tunnels, which causes mixing between the polluted air exhausted from one tunnel and the fresh air flow of another tunnel, thus leading to the rising costs of ventilation system construction and operation. In this study, for the closely spaced tunnel with staggered inlet and outlet, the computational fluid dynamics (CFD) numerical simulation method was adopted to reveal flow characteristics of the circulating air as well as variation rules of the circulating air mixing ratio φc with tunnel structure and operation parameters. Results show that both reducing inlet air velocity and increasing outlet air velocity and lateral distance can reduce the impact of the negative-pressure zone at the tunnel entrance on the jet flow structure at the tunnel exit, thus weakening the circulating air. When the inlet is placed behind or aligned with the outlet (staggered distance ∆l ≤ 0), φc will increase linearly along with the increase of staggered distance; when the inlet is placed before the outlet (∆l > 0), φc will first increase and then decrease with the increase of staggered distance. An expression to predict circulating air mixing ratio was created by sections. The predictions show a good correlation with the measurements and indicate that the front slope gradient of the tunnel portal is also one of the factors affecting the circulating air mixing ratio.


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