- Author
- Liu, Z. G. | Crampton, G. P. | Kashef, A. | Lougheed, G. D. | Gibbs, E. | Muradori, S.
- Title
- International Road Tunnel Fire Detection Research Project. Phase II Task 2: Full-Scale Fire Tests in a Laboratory Tunnel.
- Coporate
- National Research Council of Canada, Ottawa, Ontario
- Report
- IRC-RR-270; Research Report IRC-RR-270, September 12, 2008, 66 p.
- Keywords
- tunnels | fire detection | large scale fire tests | fire detectors | fire tests | fire detection systems | scenarios | instruments | pool fires | motor vehicles | fuels | heat release rate | engine fires | compartment fires | passenger vehicles | sensitivity analysis | gasoline | propane | wood cribs | cellular plastics | fire growth | heat flux | temperature | smoke spread
- Identifiers
- open pool fire; pool fires underneath vehicle; pool fires behind large vehicle; stationary vehicle fires; engine compartment fires; passenger compartment fires; moving fires
- Abstract
- This report presents the research works completed in Task 2 of the International Road Tunnel Fire Detection Research Project - Phase II. The capabilities and limitations of nine fire detectors/detection systems were investigated in a laboratory research tunnel with various challenging fire scenarios. The simulated tunnel fire scenarios used in the test program were pool fires located in the open space, underneath a vehicle and behind a large vehicle, stationary vehicle fires in the engine and passenger compartments as well as moving fires with two different speeds and driving directions facing the detectors. The fuel types included gasoline, propane, wood crib and plastic foam. Their fire sizes were varied from approximately 125 kW to 3,400 kW. Some fires grew very quickly to reach their maximum heat release rates in less than 30 s, while other fires in the test series grew very slowly, and it took more than 8 minutes to reach their maximum heat release rate. The fire characteristics generated from these fire scenarios, such as their fire growth rates, heat flux, temperature development and smoke spread in the tunnel, as well as their impacts on detecting performance were investigated. The fire detectors/detection systems were selected from five types of fire detection technologies. They were: two linear heat detection systems, one optical flame detector, three CCTV fire detectors, one smoke detection system and two spot heat detectors. All the detectors/detection systems were evaluated under the same fire conditions. Their detecting performances, including their response times, fire locating and monitoring capabilities, to various tunnel fire scenarios were studied. Test results showed that their detecting capability to a fire incident in the tunnel was determined by fuel type, fire size, location and growth rate as well as their detecting mechanisms.