Hostname: page-component-78c5997874-xbtfd Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-10T17:14:13.922Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

Thermal Radiation Modelling in Tunnel Fires

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  03 June 2015

Paolo Ciambelli*
Affiliation:
Department of Industrial Engineering, University of Salerno, via Ponte don Melillo 84084 Fisciano (SA), Italy
Maria Grazia Meo*
Affiliation:
Department of Industrial Engineering, University of Salerno, via Ponte don Melillo 84084 Fisciano (SA), Italy
Paola Russo*
Affiliation:
Department of Industrial Engineering, University of Salerno, via Ponte don Melillo 84084 Fisciano (SA), Italy
Salvatore Vaccaro*
Affiliation:
Department of Industrial Engineering, University of Salerno, via Ponte don Melillo 84084 Fisciano (SA), Italy
*
Corresponding author. URL: www.diin.unisa.it Email: parusso@unisa.it
Get access

Abstract

Modelling based on Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) is by now effectively used in fire research and hazard analysis. Depending on the scenario, radiative heat transfer can play a very important role in enclosure combustion events such as tunnel fires. In this work, the importance of radiation and the effect of the use of different approaches to account for it were assessed. Firstly, small-scale tunnel fire simulations were performed and the results compared with experimental data, then realistic full-scale scenarios were simulated. The results show up the capability of CFD modelling to reproduce with good approximation tunnel fires. Radiation proved to be noteworthy mainly when the scale of the fire is relatively large. Among the various approaches employed to simulate radiation, the use of the Discrete Transfer model gave the most accurate results, mainly when the absorption-emission characteristics of the combustion products were taken into account. Finally, the suitability of the use of CFD in quantitative Fire Hazard Analysis is discussed.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
Copyright © Global-Science Press 2011

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

[1] Vuilleumier, F., Weatherill, A. and Crausaz, B., Safety aspect of railway and road tunnel: example of the Lötschberg railway tunnel and Mont-Blanc road tunnel, Tunn. Undergr. Sp. Tech., 17 (2002), pp. 153158.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
[2] Hurley, M. J. and Bukowski, R. W., Fire Hazard Analysis Techniques, Fire Protection Handbook, 20th Edition (Cote, A. E. et al. Eds.), National Fire Protection Association, Quincy (USA), 2008.Google Scholar
[3] Gobeau, N., Ledin, H. S. and Lea, C. J., Guidance for HSE inspectors: smoke movement in complex enclosed spaces-assessment of computational fluid dynamics, HSL Report 29, 2002.Google Scholar
[4] Shaw, C. T., Using Computational Fluid Dynamics, Prentice Hall, London (UK), 1992.Google Scholar
[5] Lea, C. J., Guidance for NSD on the assessment of CFD simulations in safety cases, HSL Report FS/97/8, 1997.Google Scholar
[6] Kashef, A., BéNichou, N. and Lougheed, G., Numerical modelling and behaviour of smoke produced from fires in the Ville-Marie and L.-H.-La Fontaine Tunnels: literature review, NRCC Report IRC-RR-141, 2003.Google Scholar
[7] Novozihilov, V., Computational fluid dynamics modelling of compartment fires, Prog. Energ. Combust., 27 (2001), pp. 611666.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
[8] Sacadura, J. F., Radiative heat transfer in fire safety science, J. Quant. Spectrosc. Ra., 93 (2005), pp. 524.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
[9] Tewarson, A., Generation of Heat and Chemical Compounds in Fires, SFPE Handbook of Fire Protection Engineering, 2nd Edition (Dinenno, P. J. et al. Eds.), National Fire Protection Association, Quincy (USA), 1995.Google Scholar
[10] Woodburn, P. J. and Britter, R. E., CFD simulation of a tunnel fire-part I, Fire. Safety. J., 26 (1996), pp. 3562.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
[11] Mégret, O. and Vauquelin, O., A model to evaluate tunnel fire characteristics, Fire. Safety. J., 34 (2000), pp. 393401.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
[12] Tien, C. L., Lee, K. Y. and Stretton, A. J., Radiation Heat Transfer, SFPE Handbook of Fire Protection Engineering, 2nd Edition (Dinenno, P. J. et al. Eds.), National Fire Protection Association, Quincy (USA), 1995.Google Scholar
[13] Hottel, H. C. and Sarofim, A. F., Heat Transfer by Radiation, Perry’s Chemical Engineers’ Handbook, 7th Edition (Perry, R. H. et al. Eds.), McGraw-Hill, New York (USA), 1997.Google Scholar
[14] Keramida, E. P., Boudouvis, A. G., Lois, E., Markatos, N. C. and, A. N. KARAYAN-NIS, Evaluation of two radiation models in CFD fire modeling, Numer. Heat. Trans. A. Appl., 39 (2001), pp. 711722.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
[15] Jensen, K. A., Ripoll, J. F., Wray, A. A., Joseph, D. and El Hafi, M., On various modeling approaches to radiative heat transfer in pool fires, Combust. Flame., 148 (2007), pp. 263279.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
[16] Xue, H., Ho, J. C. and Cheng, Y. M., Comparison of different combustion models in enclosure fire simulation, Fire. Safety. J., 36 (2001), pp. 3754.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
[17] Hart, R. A., Numerical Modelling of Tunnel Fires and Water Mist Suppression, PhD thesis, University of Nottingham (UK), 2005.Google Scholar
[18] Wang, J., Hua, J., Kumar, K. and Kumar, S., Evaluation of CFD modelling, methods for fire induced airflow in a room, J. Fire. Sci., 24 (2006), pp. 393411.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
[19] ANSYS, CFX help, Release 12.0, 2009.Google Scholar
[20] Beyler, C. L., Fire Hazard Calculations for Large Open Hydrogen Fires, SFPE Handbook of Fire Protection Engineering, 3rd Edition (Dinenno, P. J. et al. Eds.), National Fire Protection Association, Quincy (USA), 2002.Google Scholar
[21] Launder, B. E. and Spalding, D., The numerical computation of turbulent flows, Comput. Method. Appl., 3 (1974), pp. 269289.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
[22] Rodi, W., Influence of buoyancy and rotation on equations for the turbulent length scale, Proc. of the 2nd Symp. on Turbulent Shear Flows, London (UK), July 2-4, 1979.Google Scholar
[23] Markatos, N. C., Malin, M. R. and Cox, G., Mathematical modeling of buoyancy-induced smoke flow in enclosures, Int. J. Heat. Mass. Trans., 25 (1982), pp. 6375.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
[24] Magnussen, B. F. and Hjertager, B. H., On mathematical models of turbulent combustion with special emphasis on soot formation and combustion, Proc. of the 16th Int. Symp. on Combustion, Cambridge (USA), August 15-20, 1976.Google Scholar
[25] Magnussen, B. F., Hjertager, B. H., Olsen, J. G., and Bhaduri, D., The eddy dissipation concept, Proc. of the 17th Int. Symp. on Combustion, Leeds (UK), August 20-25, 1978, pp. 13831398.Google Scholar
[26] Spalding, D. B., Mixing and chemical reaction in steady confined turbulent flames, Proc. of the 13th Int. Symp. on Combustion, Salt Lake City (USA), August 23-29, 1970, pp. 649657.Google Scholar
[27] Magnussen, B. F., Particulate Carbon Formation During Combustion, Plenum Publishing Corporation, 1981.Google Scholar
[28] Tesner, P. A., Snegiriova, T. D., and Knorre, V. G., Kinetics of dispersed carbon formation, Combust. Flame., 17 (1971), pp. 253271.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
[29] Viskanta, R., Overview of some radiative transfer issues in simulation of unwanted fires, Int. J. Therm. Sci., 47 (2008), pp. 15631570.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
[30] Modest, M. F., Radiative Heat Transfer, 2nd Edition, Academic Press, Amsterdam, 2003.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
[31] Siegel, R. and Howell, J. R., Thermal Radiation Heat Transfer, 4th Edition, Francis & Taylor, New York, 2002.Google Scholar
[32] Pomraning, G. C., The Equations of Radiation Thermodynamics, Pergamon, 1992.Google Scholar
[33] Shah, N. G., The Computation of Radiative Heat Transfer, PhD Thesis, University of London (UK), Faculty of Engineering, 1979.Google Scholar
[34] Lockwood, F. C., and Shah, N. G., A new radiation solution method for incorporation in general combustion prediction procedures, Proc. of the 18th Int. Symp. on Combustion, Pittsburgh (USA), August 17-22, 1980, pp. 14051414.Google Scholar
[35] Wen, J. X., Huang, L. Y. and Roberts, J., The effect of microscopic and global radiative heat exchange on the field predictions of compartment fires, Fire. Safety. J., 36 (2001), pp. 205223.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
[36] Snegirev, A. YU., Statistical modeling of thermal radiation transfer in buoyant turbulent diffusion flames, Combust. Flame., 136 (2004), pp. 5171.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
[37] Snegirev, A. YU., Makhviladze, G. M., and Talalov, V. A., Statistical modelling of thermal radiation in compartment fire, 9th Int. Fire Science & Engineering Conf. (Interflam 2001), Edinburgh (Scotland), September 17-19, 2001, pp. 10111024.Google Scholar
[38] Zhang, J., Gicquel, O., Veynante, D. and Taine, J., Monte Carlo method of radiative transfer applied to a turbulent flame modeling with LES, C. R. Mecanique., 337 (2009), pp. 539549.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
[39] Fletcher, D. F., Kent, J. H., Apte, V. B. and Green, A. R., Numerical simulations of smoke movement from a pool fire in a ventilated tunnel, Fire. Safety. J., 23 (1994), pp. 305325.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
[40] De Ris, J., Fire radiation-a review, Proc. of the 17th Int. Symp. on Combustion, Leeds (UK), August 20-25, 1978, pp. 10031016.Google Scholar
[41] Coelho, P. J., Numerical simulation of the interaction between turbulence and radiation in reactive flows, Prog. Energ. Combust., 33 (2007), pp. 311383.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
[42] Barth, T. J. and Jesperson, D. C., The design and application of upwind schemes on unstructured meshes, Proc. of the 27th Aerospace and Sciences Meeting, Reno (USA), January 9-12, 1989, AIAA Paper 89-0366.Google Scholar
[43] Raw, M. J., Robustness of coupled algebraic multigrid for the Navier-Stokes equations, Proc. of the 34th Aerospace and Sciences Meeting & Exhibit, Reno (USA), January 15-18, 1996, AIAA paper 96-0297.Google Scholar
[44] Iqbal, N., Salley, M. H. and Weerakkody, S., Fire Dynamics Tools (FDTs)-Quantitative Fire Hazard Analysis Methods for the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission Fire Protection Inspection Program (NUREG-1805), 2004.Google Scholar
[45] Mcgrattan, K., Baum, H. R. and Hamins, A., Thermal Radiation from Large Pool Fires, Report NISTIR 6546, 2000.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
[46] LÖnnermark, A. and Ingason, H., Fire spread between industry premises, SP Report 2010: 18, 2010.Google Scholar
[47] Heskestad, G., Fire Plumes, SFPE Handbook of Fire Protection Engineering, 2nd Edition (Dinenno, P. J. et al. Eds.), National Fire Protection Association, Quincy (USA), 1995.Google Scholar
[48] Babrauskas, V., Burning Rates, SFPE Handbook of Fire Protection Engineering, 2nd Edition (Dinenno, P. J. et al. Eds.), National Fire Protection Association, Quincy (USA), 1995.Google Scholar
[49] Jain, S., Kumar, S., Kumar, S. and Sharma, T. P., Numerical simulation of fire in a tunnel: comparative study of CFAST and CFX predictions, Tunn. Undergr. Sp. Tech., 23 (2008), pp. 160170.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
[50] Meo, M. G., Modelling of Enclosure Fires, PhD thesis in Chemical Engineering, University of Salerno (Italy), 2009, available online at .Google Scholar
[51] Milazzo, M. F., Lisi, R., Maschio, G., Antonioni, G., Bonvicini, S. and Spadoni, G., HazMat transport through Messina town: from risk analysis suggestions for improving territorial safety, J. Loss. Prevent. Proc., 15 (2002), pp. 347356.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
[52] Decreto Legislativo 5 ottobre 2006, n. 264, Attuazione della direttiva 2004/54/CE in materia di sicurezza per le gallerie della rete stradale transeuropea.Google Scholar
[53] Evans, D. D., Ceiling Jet Flows, SFPE Handbook of Fire Protection Engineering, 2nd Edition (Dinenno, P. J. et al. Eds.), National Fire Protection Association, Quincy (USA), 1995.Google Scholar
[54] Haerter, A., Fire tests in the Ofenegg-Tunnel in 1965, Proc. of the Int. Conf. on Fires in Tunnels, Bora˚s (Sweden), October 10-11, 1994, pp. 195214.Google Scholar
[55] Hua, J., Wang, J., Kumar, K. and Kumar, S., Evaluation of the combustion and thermal radiation modelling methods for fuel- and ventilation-controlled compartment fires, Proc. of the 10th Int. Fire Science & Engineering Conf. (Interflam 2004), Edinburgh (Scotland), July 5-7, 2004, pp. 787794.Google Scholar
[56] CFPA-E 2009, Fire safety engineering concerning evacuation from buildings, European Guideline No 19: 2009.Google Scholar