Numerical Investigation of Critical Velocity in Reduced Scale Tunnel Fire with Constant Heat Release Rate

When a fire occurs in a tunnel in the absence of sufficient air supply, large quantities of smoke are generated, filling the vehicles and any space available around them. Hot gases and smoke produced by fire form layers flowing towards extremities of the tunnel which may interfere with person’s evac...

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Main Authors: Ruben Mouangue, Philippe M. Onguene, Justin T. Zaida, Henri P. F. Ekobena
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Wiley 2017-01-01
Series:Journal of Combustion
Online Access:http://dx.doi.org/10.1155/2017/7125237
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author Ruben Mouangue
Philippe M. Onguene
Justin T. Zaida
Henri P. F. Ekobena
author_facet Ruben Mouangue
Philippe M. Onguene
Justin T. Zaida
Henri P. F. Ekobena
author_sort Ruben Mouangue
collection DOAJ
description When a fire occurs in a tunnel in the absence of sufficient air supply, large quantities of smoke are generated, filling the vehicles and any space available around them. Hot gases and smoke produced by fire form layers flowing towards extremities of the tunnel which may interfere with person’s evacuation and firefighter’s intervention. This paper carries out a numerical simulation of an unexpected fire occurring in a one-way tunnel in order to investigate for the critical velocity of the ventilation airflow; this one is defined as the minimum velocity able to maintain the combustion products in the downstream side of tunnel. The computation is performed successively with two types of fuels representing a large and a small heat release rate, owing to an open source CFD code called ISIS, which is specific to fires in confined and nonconfined environments. It is indicated that, after several computations of full-scale fires of 43.103 and 19.103 kJ/kg as heat release rate, the velocities satisfying the criterion of healthy environment in the upstream side of the tunnel are 1.34 m/s and 1.12 m/s, respectively.
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institution Kabale University
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2090-1976
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spelling doaj-art-b9e0136f939749c3ad77a32f1f409d802025-02-03T01:31:17ZengWileyJournal of Combustion2090-19682090-19762017-01-01201710.1155/2017/71252377125237Numerical Investigation of Critical Velocity in Reduced Scale Tunnel Fire with Constant Heat Release RateRuben Mouangue0Philippe M. Onguene1Justin T. Zaida2Henri P. F. Ekobena3Laboratory of Combustion and Green Technologies, Department of Energy Engineering, University Institute of Technology, University of Ngaoundere, P.O. Box 455, Ngaoundere, CameroonLaboratory of Combustion and Green Technologies, Department of Energy Engineering, University Institute of Technology, University of Ngaoundere, P.O. Box 455, Ngaoundere, CameroonDepartment of Physics, University of Fada, Gourma Province, Burkina FasoLaboratory of Analysis, Simulation and Experiment (LASE), Department of Energy Engineering, University Institute of Technology, University of Ngaoundere, P.O. Box 455, Ngaoundere, CameroonWhen a fire occurs in a tunnel in the absence of sufficient air supply, large quantities of smoke are generated, filling the vehicles and any space available around them. Hot gases and smoke produced by fire form layers flowing towards extremities of the tunnel which may interfere with person’s evacuation and firefighter’s intervention. This paper carries out a numerical simulation of an unexpected fire occurring in a one-way tunnel in order to investigate for the critical velocity of the ventilation airflow; this one is defined as the minimum velocity able to maintain the combustion products in the downstream side of tunnel. The computation is performed successively with two types of fuels representing a large and a small heat release rate, owing to an open source CFD code called ISIS, which is specific to fires in confined and nonconfined environments. It is indicated that, after several computations of full-scale fires of 43.103 and 19.103 kJ/kg as heat release rate, the velocities satisfying the criterion of healthy environment in the upstream side of the tunnel are 1.34 m/s and 1.12 m/s, respectively.http://dx.doi.org/10.1155/2017/7125237
spellingShingle Ruben Mouangue
Philippe M. Onguene
Justin T. Zaida
Henri P. F. Ekobena
Numerical Investigation of Critical Velocity in Reduced Scale Tunnel Fire with Constant Heat Release Rate
Journal of Combustion
title Numerical Investigation of Critical Velocity in Reduced Scale Tunnel Fire with Constant Heat Release Rate
title_full Numerical Investigation of Critical Velocity in Reduced Scale Tunnel Fire with Constant Heat Release Rate
title_fullStr Numerical Investigation of Critical Velocity in Reduced Scale Tunnel Fire with Constant Heat Release Rate
title_full_unstemmed Numerical Investigation of Critical Velocity in Reduced Scale Tunnel Fire with Constant Heat Release Rate
title_short Numerical Investigation of Critical Velocity in Reduced Scale Tunnel Fire with Constant Heat Release Rate
title_sort numerical investigation of critical velocity in reduced scale tunnel fire with constant heat release rate
url http://dx.doi.org/10.1155/2017/7125237
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AT justintzaida numericalinvestigationofcriticalvelocityinreducedscaletunnelfirewithconstantheatreleaserate
AT henripfekobena numericalinvestigationofcriticalvelocityinreducedscaletunnelfirewithconstantheatreleaserate