Findings of the International Road Tunnel Fire Detection Research Project

Abstract

Fire detection systems play a crucial role in ensuring safe evacuation and firefighting operations in road tunnels, but information on the performance of these systems in tunnels has been limited and guidelines for their application in tunnel environments are not fully developed. Recently, the National Research Council of Canada (NRC) and the Fire Protection Research Foundation completed a 2-year international research project, with the support of private-and public-sector organizations, to determine some of the strengths and weaknesses of the various types of fire detection systems and the factors that can affect their performance in tunnel environments. The project included both laboratory and field fire tests combined with computer modeling studies. Although this research was conducted on road tunnels, the findings should apply to other tunnels, such as those used in subway systems. As part of the project, the NRC conducted two series of tests in the Carleton University-NRC tunnel facility to investigate the performance of detection systems under minimal and longitudinal airflow conditions. In addition, NRC conducted tests in the Carre´-Viger Tunnel in Montre´al, as well as a computer modeling study. The project studied nine fire detection systems that covered five types of currently available technologies. The performance of the detection systems, including response times and ability to locate and monitor a fire in the tunnel and the effect of the tunnel environment, were evaluated under the same conditions. This article provides an overview of the findings of the project. Fire detectors, fire scenarios and test protocols used in the test program are described. A summary of the research results of the full-scale fire tests conducted in a laboratory tunnel facility and in an operating road tunnel as well as of the computer modeling activities is reported.

Optimization of Emergency Ventilation Strategies in a Roadway Tunnel

“…The validation efforts included: comparison with full-scale tests conducted specifically for code evaluation, comparison with engineering correlations, comparison with previously published full-scale test data, comparison with standard test, and comparison with documented fire experience. Kashef and Be´nichou [7] and Liu et al [8] have recently validated the use of FDS in assessing the performance of emergency ventilation and detection systems for tunnel applications by extensively comparing the predictions of FDS against field and laboratory experiments. The comparison studies showed that both numerical predictions of FDS and measurements were, in general, in good agreements.…”

Development and Application of Fire Video Image Detection Technology in China’s Road Tunnels

“…As a result, International Road Tunnel Fire Detection Research Project [23] suggested that there are generally three performance criteria for the application of a fire detection system in tunnels. The first criterion is their detection capabilities.…”

Study of a Video Image Fire Detection System for Protection of Large Industrial Applications and Atria

“…The performance of one flame VID system and two flame/smoke VID systems in road tunnel environments has been investigated in a recent research work [5]. Test results showed that it was challenging for the flame VID system to detect the obstructed fires.…”