Numerical assessment of conventional regulation effectiveness for smoke removal from a two level underground station

Abstract

The effectiveness of an underground smoke control system mainly depends on fire safety engineering that is provided, and which is generally established using smoke spread field and temperature distribution predictions. In the present study, smoke spread and temperature predictions are carried out for a typical two level underground station, under conventional smoke control regulation. The aim is to examine the effectiveness of the conventional regulation and, to look for better smoke control strategies which ensure safe evacuation operations. To this end, an in-depth investigation is carried out on selected ventilation strategies. The calculations are made using FDS code. Results highlight the ineffectiveness of the conventional regulation for some zones of the station and showed irrefutable positive impact of blowing with a moderate flow rate, and the implementation in the vicinity of the stairways of smoke barriers, when smoke control strategy through tunnels is performed.

Keywords: underground station; conventional regulation; ventilation strategies; smoke temperature; smoke barriers