Study on fire smoke flow characteristics in the ventilation network and linkage control system in coal mines

In coal mining, smoke flow from tunnel fires can easily cause a large number of deaths in the ventilation network. But the optimal smoke flow path control methods and automatic control system were lacked. In order to improve the efficiency of fire emergency rescue, the control mechanism and regional linkage control system for fire induced smoke flow in ventilation network was studied. Based on a ventilation system in coal mines, different fire scenarios for smoke flow were analysed using ventilation simulation software (VSS). Smoke flow control methods were simulated under different ventilation modes, a contrastive analysis was conducted for the respective effects and the optimal smoke flow path control methods were confirmed in different fire scenarios. A new type of ventilation facility, regional monitoring sub-stations and remote linkage control platforms were developed for smoke control. A reliability evaluation model for the control system was established by Bayesian network. The failure of the linkage control is 98.9%, the monitoring sub-station is 64.4%, the sub-station communication is 43.9%; thus, a double insurance of the control process must be realised. Since its application, the proposed regional linkage control system has been repeatedly tested through fire drills, and good results have been obtained.     

Influence of longitudinal fire location on smoke characteristics under the tunnel ceiling

The critical ventilation velocity is almost the most well‐investigated fire phenomenon in the tunnel fire research field whereas previous studies have always investigated it when the fire source is distant from the downstream tunnel exit. Fortunately, a recent study provided a set of data on the critical ventilation velocity for tunnel fires occurring near tunnel exits by small‐scaled experiments, nevertheless, with a lack of further analysis. To demonstrate the relationship of the critical ventilation velocity and the distance between the fire and tunnel exit more explicitly and detailedly, a quantitative and graphical study was carried out and a correlation was presented in this paper. Inspired by this, a set of small‐scaled experiments were carried out to investigate the influence of different longitudinal fire locations on maximum smoke temperature under the tunnel ceiling. Results show that unlike the critical ventilation velocity, the maximum smoke temperature was not obviously affected by longitudinal fire location. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Experimental study of the combustion characteristics of methanol‐gasoline blends pool fires in a full‐scale tunnel

The combustion characteristics of methanol‐gasoline blends pool fires were studied in a series of full‐scale tunnel experiments conducted with different methanol and gasoline blends. The parameters were measured including the mass loss rate, the pool surface temperature, the fire plume centerline temperature, the ceiling temperature, the smoke layer temperature profile, the flame height, and the smoke layer interface height. The gasoline components were analyzed by GC‐MS. The effects of azeotropism on the combustion characteristics of the different blends were discussed. On the basis of the results of the fire plume centerline temperature, the ceiling temperature, and the flame height, it shows that the tunnel fire regime gradually switches from fuel controlled to ventilation controlled with increasing gasoline fractions in the blends. The fire plume can be divided into 3 regions by the fire plume centerline temperature for the different blends. The N‐percentage rule to determine the smoke layer interface height is found to be applicable for tunnel fires with different blends for N = 26.     

Smoke characteristics of tunnel wood fires

Characteristics of smoke particulates generated from a wood fire in a ventilated model tunnel were investigated using an in situ optical and a grid sampling technique. Volume-to-surface mean diameter and mass concentration of the smoke particles, and the transmission, optical density per unit length and particulate optical density of the smokeladen exhaust gas were obtained as a function of the burning process in the tunnel. It was found that high concentration of smoke (～1 mg l^?1) were rapidly generated as the fire changed from oxygen-rich to fuel-rich burning, resulting in fast obscuration of the passageway. The simultaneous generationof large amounts of smoke and high temperature carbon monoxide (～8%) coupled with low transmission (～1% though 0.5 m) represents and extremely hazardous situation in such a fire environment. Present measurements and others from current smoke testing chambers are compared and discussed.     

隧道内液化天然气管道泄漏火灾温度场的数值模拟

以某实际液化天然气（LNG）输运工程为例,采用计算流体动力学方法,建立隧道内LNG管道泄漏火灾的数学模型,分别以3种不同的泄漏情况对LNG泄漏火灾流场进行了数值模拟计算,得到了3种不同泄漏强度的LNG火灾温度场的实时分布情况,并分别对其火灾温度场随时间的变化及危险性进行了分析。结果表明：泄漏强度最小的情况下,火灾发生后隧道温度升幅不大,温度变化幅度平缓,危险性相对较小;泄漏强度居中的情况下,火灾发生后隧道内温度变化幅度较大,变化趋势较为剧烈,危险性显著增加;泄漏强度最大的情况下,火灾发生后隧道内温度是3种情况中最高的,且隧道内会出现烟气堆积的情况,十分危险,应着力避免此类事故的发生。     

Effects of passenger blockage on smoke flow properties in longitudinally ventilated tunnel fires

This paper investigates the effects of passenger blockage on smoke flow properties in longitudinally ventilated tunnel fires. A series of numerical simulations were conducted in a 1/5 small-scale tunnel with the different heat release rates (50-100 kW), longitudinal ventilation velocities (0.5-1 m/s), passenger blockage lengths (2-6 m), and ratios (0.17-0.267). The typical smoke flow properties in different tunnel fire scenarios are analyzed, and the results show that under the same heat release rate and longitudinal ventilation velocity, the smoke back-layering length, maximum smoke temperature, and downstream smoke layer height decrease with increasing passenger blockage length or ratio. The Li correlations can well predict the smoke back-layering length and maximum smoke temperature in tunnel fire scenarios without the passenger blockage. When the passenger blockage exists, the modified local ventilation velocity that takes the blockage length and ratio into account has been proposed to correct the Li correlations. The smoke back-layering length and maximum smoke temperature with the different blockage lengths and ratios can be predicted by the modified correlations, which are shown to well reproduce the simulation results.     

A numerical study on the effects of naturally ventilated shaft and fire locations in urban tunnels

In more and more tunnels, natural ventilation mode with vertical shafts has been gradually employed. However, there are few studies investigating the influences of fire and shaft positions on natural ventilation performance currently. Therefore, this study investigated the effects of the transverse distance from fire source to tunnel sidewall, the longitudinal distance from fire source to shaft, and the transverse distance from shaft to sidewall on natural ventilation effectiveness in a tunnel fire by using Fire Dynamics Simulator. The typical characteristic parameters of smoke, such as mass flow rate, temperature distribution, and velocity vector were analyzed; besides, the phenomenon of plug‐holing was discussed. The results have shown that the mass flow rate of gas exhausted by the shaft decreases slightly with the increase of longitudinal distance from fire source to shaft. When the longitudinal distance from fire source to shaft is constant, changing the transverse distance from shaft to sidewall will have a more obvious effect on the effectiveness of exhausting smoke than changing the transverse distance from fire source to sidewall; in addition, the phenomenon of plug‐holing is more serious when the shaft is close to the sidewall.     

强黏烟煤反火炉造气的研究

通过对烟煤反火炉造气的研究，了解了强黏烟煤在模拟反火炉中的燃烧情况，探讨了各风速与不同煤粒径之间、气体产率与风速之间的关系，为解决反火炉易断火及烟煤造气烟尘大、焦油中沥青含量及游离碳过高、烟煤制气中的“破黏”、反火炉产气效率低等问题提供了可靠的依据，也为确定烟煤反火炉造气的最佳炉型、结构及最优工艺条件和控制手段提供了可靠的依据。     

Critical ventilation velocity under the blockage of different metro train in a long metro tunnel

To address the effect of metro train blockage on the critical ventilation velocity in a long tunnel, a series of scenarios were conducted numerically through this study, including different fire sizes (5-10 MW), metro train lengths (80-120 m), and blockage ratios (φ, 0.50, and 0.57). It is known from the numerical results that the metro train length shows a limited effect on the critical ventilation velocity, which is because the longitudinal ventilation has become stable before reaching the fire source to prevent smoke back-layering, and increasing the metro train length only increases the distance of stabilizing the longitudinal ventilation. The blockage ratio shows an obvious influence on the critical ventilation velocity, which is because the presence of the metro train can obviously reduce the flow cross-sectional area of the tunnel. An empirical model is developed as well, while it is known that the critical ventilation velocity increases with the one-third power of dimensionless heat release rate and (1-φ). The research outcomes of this study provide a technical guide for the design of the metro tunnel and the relevant emergency management of fire rescue under fire conditions.     

Numerical analysis of smoke flow under the effect of longitudinal airflow in a tunnel fire

This study investigated the influence of the longitudinal airflow on the smoke propagation in a tunnel by large-eddy simulation, which is now widely applied to study the turbulent flow. The smoke movement characteristics were studied in detail, with varying the longitudinal airflow in the tunnel. Six fire scenarios have been simulated with Fire Dynamics Simulator (FDS) and the results of the longitudinal distribution of CO concentration, temperature distribution, interface height, stratification, and the efficiency of smoke extraction in the tunnel have been analyzed to evaluate the different fire cases. FDS predicted a CO concentration distribution compared to calculated values using the Hu model. Furthermore, the predicted maximum smoke temperatures are compared to those given by the Kurioka model. A reasonably good agreement has been obtained for both models. The obtained results showed that the increase of the forced airflow velocity has for results a loss of stratification and significant decrease in the efficiency of extraction.     

Study on the influence of air supply and smoke exhaust on full transverse exhaust of long highway tunnel

This study investigated the efficacy of the full transverse exhaust method for smoke extraction in tunnel fires. It examines factors such as the number and layout of air supply and exhaust outlets, analyzing their impact on smoke spread, tunnel temperature, visibility, and airflow. The results demonstrate that the full transverse exhaust method effectively controls smoke emissions in raised highway tunnels. It limits smoke spread, reduces tunnel temperature, and effectively controls the fire-affected area. The number and layout of outlets significantly influence smoke dispersion, with fewer exhaust outlets providing better smoke control and optimizing the tunnel environment. However, insufficient outlets disrupt gas flow stability. The position of exhaust outlets affects smoke distribution, and caution is advised to prevent directing fresh air flow toward the fire. Opening an equal number of exhaust outlets on one side of the fire source yields superior smoke extraction results, reducing tunnel ceiling temperatures and minimizing risks to personnel and structures. Though stabilization may take longer, this configuration proves advantageous. The study offers valuable insights and practical guidelines for implementing the full transverse smoke control method in real-world scenarios.     

Effect of altitude on vertical temperature distribution and longitudinal smoke layer thickness in long tunnel fires

Based on large eddy simulation, a series of long tunnel fire experiments with different heat release rates (HRRs) and altitudes were carried out. The vertical temperature and thickness of fire smoke are studied. The simulation results show that the higher the altitude, the lower the flame temperature rise, while the change of smoke plume temperature rise is opposite. The movement of smoke in the tunnel can be divided into four regions, and the smoke layer thickness in the longitudinal direction of the tunnel corresponds to the latter three regions. The thickness in Region II increases along the longitudinal direction, the thickness in Region III is a constant value, and the thickness in Region IV increases along the longitudinal direction. Besides, the change of altitude only has an effect on the smoke layer thickness in Region IV. Then, by considering the altitude, HRR, and smoke layer thickness, and using dimensional analysis, an empirical formula for predicting the smoke layer thickness under the influence of altitude in Region IV was established.     

Influence of multisource fire on temperature distribution and natural smoke exhaust effect in urban tunnels with a shaft

The combustion characteristics of multisource fire and single-source fire are quite different, and there is little research on the influence of multisource fire on the natural smoke extraction effect of shaft in urban tunnels. Therefore, in this article, the method of numerical simulation was used to study the influence of fire power and distance between two fire sources on the natural smoke extraction effect of shaft and the temperature distribution in tunnel in the case of multisource fire. Typical characteristics of smoke are analyzed, such as mass flow rate, temperature distribution, velocity vector, and CO concentration. The simulation results show that when there is a certain distance between the fire sources, the two flames are inclined and close to each other. The smoke temperature under the ceiling is higher under multiple fire sources than that under single fire source. In addition, when one of the fire sources is located at the downstream of the shaft, the smoke emission in the shaft is relatively high. As the distance between fire sources continues to increase, the smoke exhaust rate basically remains stable, and an empirical relationship between smoke exhaust rate and fire source location is established.     

Study of smoke movement characteristics in tunnel fires in high-altitude areas

Understanding smoke temperature distributions and transport characteristics is of great importance to control and exhaust thermal-driven smoke. However, previous studies have focused on this problem in plain areas, whereas ambient pressure decreases as elevation increases. This study investigates the influence of ambient pressure on the hot gas temperature distribution and movement characteristics in a tunnel fire. A series of numerical simulations are carried out in a vehicle tunnel with various heat release rates (HRRs) and ambient pressures. The results show that the maximum temperature and longitudinal temperature distribution under the tunnel ceiling increase with decreasing ambient pressure due to less heat loss caused by lower air density. In addition, the vertical temperatures of the smoke are slightly higher under lower ambient pressure, and this phenomenon makes the smoke spread slightly faster while the smoke layer thickness remains nearly the same under different ambient pressures. The results can provide a reference for tunnel lining design and ventilation arrangements in high-altitude areas.     

FIRING STRUCTURAL TILE1

The modern railroad-car tunnel kiln can fire structural tile economically in sufficient quantities for commercial operation. The setting arrangement is important both as to arrangement of flues and also as to the stability of the structure. Various sizes of tile can also be placed on the same car. There are approximately three tons of tile on each car. The kiln used is a Harrop car tunnel kiln, 350 feet long with a cross-section of 5 feet 8 inches by 5 feet 5 inches. Either oil or powdered coal is used as fuel. The tile are in the kiln a total of 29 hours, giving a total production of 130 tons per twenty-four hours.     

Study on the smoke back‐layering and critical ventilation in the road tunnel fire at high altitude

A series of numerical simulations were conducted in order to investigate the characteristics of smoke back‐layering and critical ventilation in the road tunnel at high altitude with reduced ambient atmospheric pressures. The results indicated that the smoke back‐layering length decreases with the reduction of ambient pressure. Meanwhile, the dimensionless critical longitudinal ventilation velocity decreases with one‐third power of the factor of ambient pressure at high altitude. By modifying the traditional dimensionless fire heat release rate with ambient pressure, new models were deduced to predict the smoke back‐layering length and critical ventilation velocity in the road tunnel at high altitude.     

Experimental investigation on fire smoke bifurcation flow in longitudinal ventilated tunnels

Investigation of smoke bifurcation flow has been receiving more attentions, however, delicate quantitative analyses on different regions of the bifurcation flow have rarely been addressed. In this study, a series of small-scale experiments were conducted to investigate smoke bifurcation flow in longitudinal ventilated tunnels. Results show that when longitudinal ventilation velocity increases to a certain value, the smoke bifurcation phenomenon emerges, and a low-temperature region forms in the center of the tunnel. Similar to the natural conditions, smoke development under relatively strong ventilation can also be subdivided into four regions. With the increase of ventilation velocity, the ceiling impact region, side wall impact region, and convergence region of two smoke streams move further downstream, indicating that the bifurcation phenomenon becomes more evident. A simple model is proposed based on theoretical analysis and experimental phenomenon to predict two characteristic lengths of smoke bifurcation flow: the offset distance of ceiling impact region and the length of low-temperature region. Both characteristic lengths increase with ventilation velocity and can be well correlated with the dimensionless ventilation velocity defined in Equation (2) ( V^′ ). The results of this work could provide references for both tunnel ventilation designers and fire science researchers.     

Experimental investigation on smoke spread characteristics and smoke layer height in tunnels

A series of experiments were carried out in a model‐scale tunnel with dimension of 6.0 m × 1.0 m × 0.7 m to investigate the smoke spread behaviors and the typical smoke layer height. Alcohol was employed as fuel, and the heat release rate was set to be 9.5, 18.4, 30.1, and 63.5 kW, respectively. The temperature profile in the tunnel was measured, and the buoyant flow stratification conditions were visualized by a laser sheet. The experiment results show that the N percentage rule would greatly influence by subjective factors. As the N (10, 20, 30) value increases, the smoke layer height also increases. The results calculated by the buoyancy frequency method were more accurate. Fan's prediction method (Fan WC, Wang QG, Jiang FH. Concise Guide of Fire Science. He Fei: University of Science and Technology of China Press; 1995.161 p.) does not accurately evaluate the smoke layer thickness in tunnel fire. An enhanced empirical formula for predicting the smoke layer thickness in the one‐dimensional horizontal spread stage was proposed. It is shown that the empirical formula could well predict the smoke layer thickness by comparing with the experimental data of previous studies.     

Investigation of smoke gases and temperatures during car fire – large‐scale and small‐scale tests and numerical investigations

The hazards for passengers during vehicle fires result from the increasing temperature and the emitted smoke gases. A fire was set on a car to investigate the development of temperature and of gaseous fire products in the passenger compartment. The study was based on a full‐scale test with a reconstructed scene of a serious car fire. The aim of this work was to identify the conditions for self‐rescuing of passengers during a car fire. A dummy, equipped with several thermocouples, was placed on the driver's seat. Also, the smoke gases were continuously collected through a removable probe sensor corresponding to the nose of the dummy in the passenger compartment and analyzed using Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy. Additionally, several car components were investigated in the smoke density chamber (smoke emission and smoke gas composition). It was found that the toxic gases already reached hazardous levels by 5 min, while the temperatures at the dummy were at that time less than 80 °C. The toxicity of smoke gases was assessed using the fractional effective dose concept. The various experimentally parameters (temperature and smoke gas composition) were implemented into numerical simulations with fire dynamics simulator. Both the experimental data and the numerical simulations are presented and discussed. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Experimental study on the effect of lateral concentrated smoke extraction on smoke stratification in the longitudinal ventilated tunnel

Smoke is the main cause of death in tunnel fires. It is one of the important measures to maintain smoke stratification in the early stage of tunnel fire. This article focused on experimentally studying the combined effect of lateral concentrated smoke extraction and longitudinal ventilation on the smoke stratification, which never be revealed before. The velocity of the smoke layer and air layer, vertical temperature distribution, and the flow patterns of the smoke were measured. It was found that the longitudinal ventilation and lateral concentrated smoke extraction would affect the flow of the smoke and change the shear velocity between the smoke layer and air layer, then, the patterns of the smoke layer will be affected. And the flow patterns with Froude (Fr) number can be classified into three categories: (a)Fr < 0.6 , with stable smoke stratification; (b) 0.6 < Fr < 0.85 , with a stable smoke stratification but the blurring interface; and (c) Fr > 0.85 , the smoke layer is completely unstable. The result can provide a reference for ventilation design of immersed tube tunnels.