Scale similarity on ceiling jet flow

In this study, empirical formulae previously derived for describing the decrease in temperature rise, the decrease in velocity, the thermal boundary layer thickness, the momentum boundary layer thickness, the Gaussian thermal thickness, and the Gaussian momentum thickness of a ceiling jet flowing upward along the steepest run of an inclined ceiling were applied to a full-scale scenario. The coefficients in these formulae were determined through a series of pool fire tests conducted using a flat, unconfined model ceiling with dimensions of 2.5 m×3.0 m, and fixed ceiling clearance of 1.0 m. To verify the applicability of the developed formulae to actual fires, another series of pool fire tests were conducted using a flat, unconfined full-scale ceiling with dimensions of 7.0 m×14.0 m and a maximum ceiling clearance of 3.0 m. The proposed formulae were confirmed to be applicable to a full-scale scenario and to describe the ceiling jet flow accurately.     

Temperature and velocity properties of a ceiling jet impinging on an unconfined inclined ceiling

Understanding the characteristics of ceiling jet flow is important because most fire detectors and suppression devices are designed to operate within the ceiling jet; the increases in temperature and smoke concentration within the ceiling jet become trigger occupants to begin fire-fighting action or to evacuation. A series of pool fire tests was conducted using a flat, unconfined model ceiling with dimensions of 2.5 m (D)×3.0 m (L) and changing the ceiling inclination angle of up to 40°. A single ceiling height is used. Two fire heat release rates were used to evaluate the effects: one with and the other without the flame tip touching the inclined ceiling under a steady-state condition. Maximum temperature and its position were determined based on the measurement using a rake consisting of 0.2-mm-diameter chromel–alumel thermocouples. The maximum velocity and its position were obtained by the particle image velocimetry method. These data were compared with the velocities obtained using a bi-directional flow probe and the relationship between them was clarified. Empirical formulae for the temperature rise and velocity versus the radial distance from the plume impingement point along the steepest run in the upward direction were developed considering the effect of the inclination angle. Variations in the Froude number and the Richardson number with radial distance were clarified with and without the flame tip touching the inclined ceiling.     

Numerical comparison of performance between traditional and alternative jet fans in tiled tunnel in emergency ventilation

In this paper a computational study was carried out to evaluate the performance of longitudinal ventilation system equipped with an alternative jet fan with respect to traditional one in case of fire in tiled tunnel. The alternative jet fan is equipped with inclined silencers (pitch angle α = 6°) in order to reduce the Coanda effect and consequently shear stress on the tunnel ceiling. The fire was simulated setting heat flux on HGV surface. Computational fluid dynamic analysis was applied to simulate the ventilation in the unidirectional tunnel through κ–ɛ model. The comparison conducted in terms of total thrust required to prevent back-layering phenomena and numerical results were provided in terms of thrust of jet fan values, average velocity values and temperature profiles, for different tunnel slope values. Furthermore the authors have compared the critical velocity provided by CFD analysis with critical velocity provided in the literature.     

Ceiling-jet thickness and vertical distribution along flat-ceilinged horizontal tunnel with natural ventilation

A series of fire tests was conducted in a 10.0 m (L) × 0.75 m (W) × 0.45 m (H) model tunnel with a rectangular cross section, and detailed measurements were taken of the temperature and velocity within a quasi-steady state fire-driven ceiling-jet running along the centre of a ceiling.The ceiling-jet thickness was defined as the distance from the tunnel ceiling to the point where the temperature and/or velocity dropped to half of their maximums. Correlations to represent the variation in the ceiling-jet thickness along the tunnel axis were developed with the aid of a theoretical approach. The coefficients included in these correlations were determined based on the experimental results obtained. It was found that the ceiling-jet thickness derived from the temperature was 1.17 times greater than that from the velocity in the tranquil flow region.In the tranquil region, both the velocity and temperature showed top-hat distributions, with a bulging shape from the apex of the distribution towards the tunnel floor. A cubic function and coordinate transformation were applied to develop empirical formulae for the temperature and velocity distributions, which were represented by the dimensionless distance from the tunnel ceiling and dimensionless temperature rise and/or velocity at a given distance from the fire source. The correlation developed for the temperature distribution was compared with the results of large- and full-scale tunnel experiments, which verified its applicability.     

Temperature and velocity distributions from numerical simulations of ceiling jets under unconfined,inclined ceilings

Numerical simulations of ceiling jets under unconfined, inclined ceilings were conducted with the open-source code FireFOAM. A range of ceiling inclinations, 0–30° was considered with a 14 kW convective heat release rate (HRR) heptane fire used as the plume source, and the ceiling mid-point clearance from the top of the 0.228 m diameter burner kept fixed at 0.89 m. The predicted temperature and velocity in the developing ceiling jets were compared against the experimental data and empirical correlations. Temperature and velocity predictions on the elevated side of the ceiling are in general agreement with experimental data. Flow reversal in the lower side of the ceiling was predicted with good confidence, and comparison with experimental data was found to be reasonable. Following existing convention in the literature, the predicted results were non-dimensionalized using the convective HRR, ceiling height and radial distance from the ceiling mid-point. Comparison of the non-dimensional data on the elevated ceiling side showed better agreement for temperature against the correlation, whereas predicted velocity data showed a wider spread around the correlation values.     

Velocity and temperature attenuation of a ceiling-jet along a horizontal tunnel with a flat ceiling and natural ventilation

A series of fire tests was conducted in a small-scale tunnel with dimensions of 10.0 m (L) × 0.75 m (W) × 0.45 m (H) and a rectangular cross-section. Detailed measurements of the velocity and temperature within a steady fire-driven ceiling-jet running along the centre of the ceiling were conducted.Referring to a theoretical derivation process described in the literature as a starting point, correlations representing the velocity and temperature attenuation along the tunnel axis were developed.The values of the coefficients included in the developed correlation for the velocity attenuation were measured using a particle image velocimetry system during the experiments conducted in the small-scale tunnel. The value of the Stanton number was determined by considering the ceiling-jet thickness, which was derived from the velocity distribution. The values of the coefficients included in the developed correlation for the temperature attenuation were also determined based on experimental results described in the literature, which were obtained in a large-scale tunnel constructed using good heat insulation properties.Through these correlations developed for the velocity and temperature attenuations along the tunnel axis, the variation in the Richardson number of the ceiling-jet based on the distance from the fire source position along the tunnel axis was examined, and the position where the ceiling-jet changed from a shooting flow to a tranquil flow was determined. The boundary positions between the shooting and tranquil flows were determined using correlations between the velocity and/or temperature attenuation, which were compared with the variation in the Richardson number along the tunnel axis to verify their appropriateness.     

CFD analysis of a realistic reduced-scale modeling equipped with axial jet fan

Typically, in the experimental scale road tunnel model, the air flow induced by ventilation system is provided by an external fan. In this paper, the authors have numerically simulated full and reduced-scale tunnel in order to evaluate the possibility to realize a reduced scale of a road tunnel model with a realistic ventilation system consisting of impulsive jet fans.In particular, two different types of longitudinal ventilation systems were considered, traditional and alternative. The last one was equipped with jet fans that have the inlet/outlet sections inclined at a fixed pitch angle (α=6°) toward the tunnel floor. The jet fan was simulated as a simple momentum source that provides a pressure rise (pressure drop) across them as a function of the outflow air velocity.The analyzed tunnel consists in a 800 m one directional bore with circular cross section 5.05 m radius; the jet fans were installed at 5.67 m from the floor. Furthermore a burning Heavy Good Vehicle (HGV), placed at 450 m far away the tunnel entrance, was considered. To simulate numerically the burning vehicle, the species transport equation combustion model with Eddy-Dissipation-Concept (EDC) model was adopted.In order to create a reduced-scale model from a full scale, Froude method was applied to preserve geometrical, kinematical and dynamical similitude. Temperature and axial velocity profiles, in different tunnel sections for both considered models (full and scaled) and ventilation systems, were provided. The numerical results showed a good agreement for the both ventilation systems.     

The effect of fuel area size on behavior of fires in a reduced-scale single-track railway tunnel

A set of experiments was carried out in a 1/9 reduced-scale single-track railway tunnel to investigate the effect of fuel area size on the temperature distribution and behavior of fires in a tunnel with natural ventilation. Methanol pool fires with four different fuel areas 0.6 × 0.3 m² (1 pan), 1.2 × 0.3 m² (2 pans), 2.4 × 0.3 m² (4 pans) and 3.6 × 0.3 m² (6 pans), were used in these experiments. Data were collected on temperatures, radiative heat flux and mass loss rates. The temperature distribution and smoke layer in the tunnel, along with overflow dimensions and radiant heat at the tunnel entrance were analyzed. The results show that as the fuel area enlarges, the fire gradually becomes ventilation-controlled and the ceiling temperature over the center of fire source declines. Burning at the central region of fire source is depressed due to lack of oxygen. This makes the temperature distribution along the tunnel ceiling change from a typical inverted V-shape to an M-shape. As observed in the experiments, a jet flame appeared at tunnel entrances and both the size and temperature of the flame increased with the enlargement of fuel area leading to a great threat to firefighters and evacuees in actual tunnel fires.     

Studies on buoyancy driven two-directional smoke flow layering length with combination of point extraction and longitudinal ventilation in tunnel fires

This paper investigates the buoyancy-driven smoke flow layering length (both upstream and downstream) beneath the ceiling with combination of point extraction and longitudinal ventilation in tunnel fires. A theoretical model is developed based on previous back-laying model with only longitudinal ventilation, with modified actual heat release rate, as well as modified upstream and downstream opposing longitudinal air flow velocities by the induced flow velocity due to point extraction. Experiments are carried out in a reduced scale model tunnel with dimensionless of 72 m×1.5 m×1.3 m. A LPG porous gas burner is used as fire source. The smoke flow layering length both upstream and downstream are identified based on temperature profiles measured along the ceiling, for different experiment conditions. CFD simulations with FDS are also performed for the same scenarios. Results show that with combination of point extraction and longitudinal ventilation, the smoke flow layering length is not symmetric where it is longer downstream than that upstream. The upstream smoke layering length decreases, while the downstream layering length increases with increase in longitudinal ventilation velocity; and they both decrease with increase in point extraction velocity. The predictions by the proposed theoretical model agree well with the measurements and simulation results.     

Safe velocity of on-fire train running in the tunnel

The safety of a running train on fire in a tunnel is a key issue for rescue operations, and the train velocity is mainly related to its safety. In this study, the relationship between the wind velocity and heat release rate (HRR), temperature field around the train, and flame/smoke pervasion rule were investigated under the conditions of variable train velocity, fire location, and fire source location. Beijing Metro was considered as a typical example, in which the safe velocity was estimated to be ∼41.83 km h⁻¹. Assuming the occurrence of fire at the center of the train, the numerical simulations of the flow field using the sliding grid of CFD were performed for a full-scale tunnel under different HRRs. When the fire source reached to the target section, the velocities of all the monitoring points rapidly increased. The velocities increased as the train tail arrived at the target section. The velocities at the measuring points increased with the increase in height, excluding the value of the position with a distance of 0.025 m from the tunnel ceiling. The average temperature and concentration of smoke in the annular space between the train and tunnel ceiling had the minimum values when the running train on fire moved with a speed of 45 km h⁻¹. Thus, the safe velocity of a subway train on fire should be managed between 41.83 km h⁻¹ and 45 km h⁻¹.     

Heat of combustion in spreading wood crib fires with application to ceiling jets

Responding to a challenge raised with respect to a 1989 revision of a 1979 paper on the ceiling jet of t-squared fires, we have measured the heat of combustion in the growth phase of wood cribs made of sugar pine, the test fuel in the original work, needed to generalize the ceiling jet measurements to any combustible. The present determination of the chemical heat of combustion in the growth phase, 14.1 kJ/g, is a little higher than adopted in 1989 (12.5 kJ/g, from wood sample burning with diffusion flame) but still considerably lower than employed in 1979 (20.9 kJ/g, from oxygen bomb calorimetry). More importantly, the convective heat of combustion was measured as 11.5 kJ/g, which has been employed to update the ceiling jet equations for temperature and velocity in t-squared fires. An explanation is offered for the varying, and often higher than expected ceiling-level temperatures measured with thermocouples directly over the fire in the original experiments, suggesting that both plume lean and thermocouple insertion depth may have affected the indicated temperature.     

Gas temperatures in heavy goods vehicle fires in tunnels

Large-scale fire tests were carried out with heavy goods vehicle (HGV) cargos in the Runehamar tunnel in Norway. The tunnel is a decommissioned, two-way-asphalted road tunnel that is 1600 m long, 6 m high and 9 m wide, with a slope varying between 0.5% uphill and 1% downhill. In total four tests were performed with fire in an HGV set-up and a longitudinal ventilation flow of approximately 3 m/s. In three tests, mixtures of different cellulose and plastic materials were used; in the fourth test a commodity consisting of furniture and fixtures was used. In all tests the mass ratio was approximately 82% cellulose and 18% plastic. A polyester tarpaulin covered the cargo.One purpose of the large-scale tests was to obtain new relevant gas temperature-time data from large-scale HGV fires in tunnels. There is presently a lack of such information for road tunnels. The maximum heat release rates produced by the four different fire loads varied between 66 and 202 MW resulting in maximum gas temperatures at the ceiling ranging between 1281 and 1365 °C. A comparison with literature values shows that the gas temperatures obtained here are uniformly higher than those obtained in other similar large-scale test series conducted using solid materials. A mathematical correlation of a temperature–time curve is given and this is the best representation of the measured temperature and a combination of frequently used temperature curves for tunnels (the HC curve and the RWS curve).     

Computational study of effects of jet fans on the ventilation of a highway curved tunnel

A computational study was carried out to investigate the aerodynamic behavior of jet fans in a curved road tunnel and its effects on the tunnel ventilation system. It has been found that the variations of the static and dynamic pressure in a curved tunnel are non-monotonic. After the issue of the jets, the pressure initially increases gradually, but this is followed by a sudden drop and then a recovery. This is attributed to the interaction between the jets and the curved walls of the tunnel. A sudden increase in pressure is resulted as the jet reaches the convex wall, whereas that the concave wall is approached causes a pressure reduction. The flow becomes asymmetrical downstream of the jets. The development of the jets depends on the separation of the fans and the distance between the fans and the tunnel walls. Increasing the space between the fans or moving them away from the tunnel ceiling makes the jets spreading more quickly across the cross-section. However, it takes a longer distance for the jets to develop when the fans are close to each other or to the tunnel wall. The distance required for pressure to be fully recovered is approximately 90–120 m in this study. The biggest pressure-rising coefficient is obtained when the fans are arranged according to the distance of 2.4 m between the fans, the fans offset of 0.5 m from the centre line towards the convex wall, and the ratio of the distance between fans and the ceiling to the diameter of fans of 1.77.     

Simulation of fire scenarios due to different vehicle types with and without traffic in a bi-directional road tunnel

This paper presents findings obtained by CFD modelling for simulating the effects of fire due to different vehicle types in a bi-directional road tunnel. Four different burning vehicles placed in the centre of the driving lane at tunnel middle length were considered. Peaks of the heat release rate (HRR) of: 8, 30, 50, and 100 MW were simulated for the two cars, the bus, the heavy goods vehicle (HGV), and the petrol tanker, respectively. The fire effects on tunnel structure and on environmental conditions along people evacuation path were especially evaluated. The effects of the traffic jam, in contrast with the isolated vehicles, on temperatures, radiant heat flux, visibility distance, and toxic gases concentrations, were also investigated. The worst scenario was identified to be that pertaining to the petrol tanker and more critical conditions were also found when the tunnel was full of vehicles. The maximum gas temperatures reached in the presence of traffic at the side wall (and at the tunnel ceiling reported in brackets) were found to be: 360 °C (170 °C) for the two cars; 740 °C (465 °C) for the bus; 835 °C (735 °C) for the HGV and 1305 °C (1145 °C) for the petrol tanker, respectively. The presence of the traffic, in contrast with the isolated vehicle, involved an increase in the maximum temperatures equal to 16–17% for the two cars, and contained in the range 12–29% with percentages increasing starting from the tanker, to the HGV and to the bus. In other words when the maximum temperatures produced by the isolated vehicle are very high (e.g. for the tanker), the presence of the traffic had a minor effect. With reference to environmental conditions along the evacuation path, the results showed that in the case of petrol tanker fire the emergency ventilation ensures a tenable level of temperature, radiant heat flux, and toxic gases concentrations up to 5 min from the fire starting. This time increases up to 6.5 min for the HGV and 8 min for the bus. This means that the tunnel users in order to be safe in all scenarios should leave the tunnel within 5 min after the fire starting. Toxic gases concentrations, however, were found to be below the limit values in all cases and also in the presence of traffic. In the light of the aforementioned results, tunnel occupants should be promptly informed of the fire risk and guided to the exit portals. This might be done by equipping the tunnel with illuminated emergency signs located along the tunnel length and by installing traffic lights before the entrances so that the tunnel can be closed in case of emergency. By activating the traffic lights at the portals and the emergency signs (more especially those at the ceiling) at the same time as the emergency ventilation is activated, safer conditions for the people evacuation are expected.     

Simulating longitudinal ventilation flows in long tunnels: Comparison of full CFD and multi-scale modelling approaches in FDS6

The accurate computational modelling of airflows in transport tunnels is needed for regulations compliance, pollution and fire safety studies but remains a challenge for long domains because the computational time increases dramatically. We simulate air flows using the open-source code FDS 6.1.1 developed by NIST, USA. This work contains two parts. First we validate FDS6’s capability for predicting the flow conditions in the tunnel by comparing the predictions against on-site measurements in the Dartford Tunnel, London, UK, which is 1200 m long and 8.5 m in diameter. The comparison includes the average velocity and the profile downstream of an active jet fan up to 120 m. Secondly, we study the performance of the multi-scale modelling approach by splitting the tunnel into CFD domain and a one-dimensional domain using the FDS HVAC (Heating, Ventilation and Air Conditioning) feature. The work shows the average velocity predicted by FDS6 using both the full CFD and multi-scale approaches is within the experimental uncertainty of the measurements. Although the results showed the prediction of the downstream velocity profile near the jet fan falls outside the on-site measurements, the predictions at 80 m and beyond are accurate. Our results also show multi-scale modelling in FDS6 is as accurate as full CFD but up to 2.2 times faster and that computational savings increase with the length of the tunnel. This work sets the foundation for the next step in complexity with fire dynamics introduced to the tunnel.     

Experimental investigation on transverse ceiling flame length and temperature distribution of sidewall confined tunnel fire

This paper presents an experimental investigation on the transverse ceiling flame length and the temperature distribution of a sidewall confined tunnel fire. The experiments were conducted in a 1/6th scale model tunnel with the fire source placed against the sidewall, 0 m, 0.17 m and 0.35 m above the floor, respectively. Experiments of fire against a wall without a ceiling, 0.35 m above the floor in a large space, were also conducted as a control group. Results shows that for small heat release rate (HRR), the flame is lower than the ceiling and extends along the sidewall. With the increase of HRR and elevation of burner height, the flame gradually impinges on the ceiling and spreads out radially along it. The flame impingement condition and the flame shapes of the wall fire with and without ceiling are presented. From the viewpoint of the physical meaning of flame impinging on the ceiling, the horizontal flame length should be a function of the unburned part of the fuel at the impinging point. Based on the proportional relation between the flame volume and HRR, the effective HRR (Q_ef) at the ceiling is determined and the effective dimensionless HRR, Q^*_ef is defined to correlate the horizontal ceiling flame length. Additionally, predictive correlations of transverse ceiling temperature distribution are proposed for the continuous flame region, the intermittent flame region and the buoyant plume region under the ceiling, respectively.     

Full-scale experiment and CFD simulation on smoke movement and smoke control in a metro tunnel with one opening portal

Three full-scale model experiments were conducted in a unidirectional tube, which is a part of a metro tunnel with one end connected to an underground metro station and the other end opened to outside in Chongqing, PR China. Three fire HRRs, 1.35 MW, 3 MW and 3.8 MW were produced by pool fires with different oil pan sizes in the experiments. Temperature distributions under the tunnel ceiling along the longitudinal direction were measured. At the same time, CFD simulations were conducted under the same boundary conditions with the experiments by FDS 5.5. In addition, more FDS simulation cases were conducted after the FDS simulation results agreed with the experimental results. The simulation results show that the smoke temperature and the decay rate of the temperature distribution under the tunnel ceiling along the longitudinal direction increase as HRR increases. The smoke exhausts effectively from the tunnel under mechanical ventilation system, whether the emergency vent is activated as a smoke exhaust or an air supply vent. The operation mode of the mechanical ventilation system depends on the evacuation route.     

Possibility of using roof openings for natural ventilation in a shallow urban road tunnel

Naturally ventilated urban vehicular tunnels with multiple roof openings have increased in China. Unnecessary gas (polluted air or fire smoke) are expected to be exhausted out through openings. Whether its safety standards can be satisfied or not still needs to be verified. In this paper, a safe CO concentration was firstly discussed, and a heat risk level of very high to extreme up to 46 °C was given. Secondly, a real 1410 m tunnel was proposed, and a 1/10 scale model tunnel was reproduced. Ambient winds of 0.95 m/s in prototype and 0.3 m/s in model were considered. Under normal traffic test, a track circuit was constructed with model vehicles moving on it to form traffic wind, and once the air velocity was larger than 0.31 m/s, the airflows were found to be not relevant to the Reynolds number. The traffic winds were weakened by openings. For three of all tested traffic, the actual air velocities were larger than the required ones, so its air qualities were satisfied. In firing test, two sets of burning experiments were conducted with which the heat release rates (HRR) were 8.35 kW and 13.7 kW. Large amounts of smoke were exhausted out of openings, and the high-temperature was not significant. Full-scale numerical simulations were carried out to verify the experimental results respectively using Fluent 6.0 for normal traffic and FDS 4.07 for firing. The simulations were compared well with the experiments. Further FDS simulations show that the openings’ mass flow rates are influenced little by ambient temperature; with the increasing length of the buried section, much smoke accumulate inside leading to a high temperature; having 4–5 openings in one shaft group is oversize in the actual engineering design.     

Experimental study of the effectiveness of a water system in blocking fire-induced smoke and heat in reduced-scale tunnel tests

A water system, consisting of several water mist nozzles, has been installed in a reduced-scale tunnel. Its effectiveness in blocking fire-induced smoke and heat is tested, with and without longitudinal ventilation. A total of 14 fire tests have been carried out, with 250 ml methanol in an iron tray (25 cm × 20 cm) as fuel. Temperatures have been measured by 30 thermocouples, located upstream and downstream of the fire location. The aim is to assess the effectiveness of the water system in preventing smoke spread and in reducing the temperature in the tunnel. Interaction of the water with the fire is avoided. The impact of water pressure, ventilation velocity and nozzle arrangement on the effectiveness in smoke blocking and temperature reduction is discussed. The result confirms that the water system effectively reduces the temperatures and prevents smoke spreading in the absence of longitudinal ventilation. However, strong longitudinal ventilation (0.8 m/s ventilation velocity in the reduced-scale tunnel, corresponding to critical velocity in full-scale (1:10) tunnel) reduces the effectiveness in blocking the smoke spreading by the water system, although the temperature reduction downstream the water system remains in place. Higher water pressure makes the cooling effect stronger, because more and smaller water droplets are injected into the tunnel. For a given level of water pressure level, the impact of the nozzle row configuration is small in the tests.     

Numerical analysis of different ventilation schemes during the construction process of inclined tunnel groups at the Changheba Hydropower Station,China

During the excavation process of underground caverns, the rational selection of the ventilation scheme is very important for the safety and health of construction workers. The flood discharge tunnel groups at the Changheba Hydropower Station are selected as a case to study the design of ventilation schemes in inclined tunnel groups; these groups are characterized by a gradient of approximately 10% and a complex intersecting relationship among the tunnels. The Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) method is used to simulate the fluid dynamics in tunnel groups when different ventilation schemes are employed. Four ventilation schemes with the same duct at different positions along the transverse section are formulated, and the scheme approaching the right side with most of the construction adits is adopted in engineering after a comparative analysis, as it offers a well-distributed velocity field and sufficient security distance. The study reveals that flow vortices appear in the tunnels with a long axis length ranging from 5 m to 20 m; the observation that the flow velocity on the transverse sections is away from the heading face indicates that a low-velocity area is always present in the vicinity of an air duct, and the security distance on the upstream side is 60% shorter than on the downstream side with the same air-blower when the tunnels have a 10% gradient. In addition, when the excavation distance rises 200 m, the ventilation condition in the tunnels, especially in the areas around tunnel intersections, is greatly improved by the completion of pilot tunnels and shafts in advance.