CHARACTERISTICS OF SMOKE CONCENTRATION PROFILES WITH UNDERGROUND UTILITY TUNNEL FIRE

Accurate prediction of the fire-induced air velocity, temperature and smoke flow in underground utility tunnel becomes more important for the optimization of design and placement of heat and smoke detectors. In order to improve the safety of underground utility tunnel systems, the behaviors of fire-induced smoke flow and temperature distributions are investigated. Especially, two different cross-sectional shapes of tunnel, such as rectangular and circular types are modeled. Also, fire source is modeled as a volumetric heat source. Three-dimensional thermal-flow characteristics in an underground tunnel are solved by means of FVM using SIMPLE algorithm. The effects of shape geometry on the fire-induced flow characteristics are graphically depicted. It is desirable that heat and smoke detectors are installed on the cables and the top of the wall.