Studies from Tsinghua University in the Area of Risk Management Published (Study on smoke propagation in tunnel construction of a hydropower station: A full-scale fire experiment): Insurance – Risk Management

2023 JUN 13 (NewsRx) -- By a News Reporter-Staff News Editor at Insurance Daily News -- New study results on risk management have been published. According to news reporting out of Beijing, People’s Republic of China, by NewsRx editors, research stated, “In this study, full-scale fire experiments were conducted in a hydropower station to investigate smoke propagation during tunnel construction.”

Our news editors obtained a quote from the research from Tsinghua University: “The flame height, smoke temperature and stratification, smoke descent and spread velocity were analyzed via measurements and on-site observations. The initial combustion stage was largely affected by ignition source during tunnel construction for diesel pool fire, and the average flame height in the fully developed stage could reach 1.4-2.1 m in experimental fire scenarios. The gradient of the smoke temperature evolution near the fire was the opposite for the upstream and downstream regions. The longitudinal temperature distribution was concentrated in a small range at the heights of the smoke layer, and gradually decreased by air entrainment as the height decreased, while further increasing in the lower half of the tunnel height in the near-fire region under heat radiation from the fire source. Moreover, distinct and stable smoke stratification formed during the fully developed combustion stage, and the smoke layer interface was at approximately half the tunnel height. Smoke descent was aggravated in the decay stage of combustion, and the fire risk remained high after the fully developed period.”

According to the news editors, the research concluded: “The smoke front spread velocity was empirically determined for the full-scale tunnel fire scenarios. Conclusions from full-scale experiments can support smoke control design and on-site fire emergency response plans for hydropower stations.”

For more information on this research see: Study on smoke propagation in tunnel construction of a hydropower station: A full-scale fire experiment. Journal of Safety Science and Resilience, 2023,4(2):188-202. The publisher for Journal of Safety Science and Resilience is KeAi Communications Co., Ltd.

A free version of this journal article is available at https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jnlssr.2022.11.002.

Our news journalists report that additional information may be obtained by contacting Chang Liu, Institute of Public Safety Research, Department of Engineering Physics, Tsinghua University, Beijing 100084, People’s Republic of China. Additional authors for this research include Huihang Cheng, Wenjun Nie, Senlin Jiang, Junfeng Chen, Peng Lin, Maohua Zhong.

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