VID FIre KIll TUNPROTEC Active Tunnel Fire Protection 9
An Active Tunnel Fire General The tunnel structures are very valuable. Infrastructure tunnels, such as train tunnels and road tunnels represent very large values to societies. The tunnel-use has large value to the societies they connect. Tunnel fires may cause large cost full damages to the tunnel structure, which can create long tunnel lay-downs. Losses of values in forms of installations in the tunnel pipes, vehicles and goods to fires may also be very high. Fire loads in infrastructure tunnels may be very high, and infrastructure tunnels have many potential ignition sources. Vehicles have combustion engines, where pressurized hydrocarbons flow in small pipes and hoses in hot vibrating engine compartments, close to hot surfaces as engine blocks, exhaust manifolds and exhaust pipes. Vehicles, in good and bad conditions, carry all kind of goods in small and large quantities through the tunnel pipes. The vehicles are all individual controlled, and move through the tunnel pipes in high speed or close together. Each vehicle representing a high potential risk of causing the igniting of a tunnel fire. Many people risks to be in a tunnel pipe should a fire start. Long infrastructure tunnels have long escape routes. Vehicles or trains obstruct peoples escape routes in the tunnel pipes making evacuation in case of tunnel fires difficult. Darkness and smoke makes it hard for people to orientate, and to find their way to the escape routes or the tunnel exit. 2
Protection System Tunnels are long clamp spaces, with small cross section areas. In event of a fire in a tunnel, the spaces quickly fill with smoke and heat, quickly making the tunnel tube space into a life threading environment. Long infrastructure tunnels have ventilation fan systems forcing fresh air into the tunnel pipes. The systems vent the tunnels pipes for vehicle exhausts gasses, and the ventilation systems bring fresh air to people inside tunnel pipes. Typical air velocities in modern infrastructure tunnels are 3m/s to 8 m/s, similar to 10 km/h (the speed humans can run) to 30 km/h(the peak speed of common people ridden bicycles). In elder infra structure tunnels air ventilation velocities are often as slow as 1-2 m/s equals 3.6-7.2 km/h or common walking velocities. Many tunnel operators plan to increase the air velocities to 8 m/s in case of fires in tunnel tubes. This way the operator hopes to prevent smoke from filling the tunnel pipe downstream the fire. The tunnel operators also hope that the high air flow cools the tunnel structure to reduce damages to tunnel structure from the heat from fire. It is thought that high air flow solute the fire combustion gas concentration, causing a less lethal atmosphere in the tunnel pipe downstream the fire. Risk to life Risk to Construction HRR MW Heat outputs from different tunnel fires Road examples vehicles Rail examples vehicles Metro examples vehicles At the fire boundary 6 1-2 cars ISO 834 10 Small van, 2-3 cars, ++ Electric locomotive Low combustible passengers carriage 20 Big van, public bus, multiple vehicles Normal combustble passengers carriage ISO 834 ISO 834 30 Bus, empty HGV Passengers carriage Two carriages ISO 834 50 Combustibles load on truck 70 HGV load with combustibles (approx. 4 tonne) Open freight wagons with lorries Multiple carriages (more than two) ISO 834 100 HGV (average) HC 150 Loaded with easy comb. HGV (approx. 10 tons) 200 or higher Limited by oxygen, petrol tanker, multiple HGVs Limited by oxygen HC RWS RWS Source: Sintef NBL. 3
An Active Tunnel Fire VID- Fire-Kill TUNPROTEC The TUNPROTEC system is a total fire protection system for the protection of infrastructure tunnels against fires. The TUNPROTEC system combines modern fire detection and water mist fire protection into one fully integrated tunnel fire protection system. The TUNPROTEC system is designed with the purpose of the system being highly reliable, simple to operate, low maintenance and easy and fast to install and commission. The system is modular build, and all system modules are supplied factory assembled and tested, ready for installation. VID Fire-Kill supplies all system modules marked with installation numbers to ensure that all modules are rightfully installed. VID Fire-Kill offers to custom design TUNPROTEC interface units to match the communication protocols of the tunnel operators control and alarm systems. A string of tunnel pipe protection modules are installed in the tunnel ceiling, to provide fire protection in an area of up to 6m on both sides of the string of tunnel protection modules. The tunnel protection modules are each 9m or 10m long. The Tunnel protection module strings are installed with every two modules being an Active Tunnel Protection Module, and a Spacer Tunnel Protection Module. The tunnel modules are prepared for simple installation in the tunnel ceiling, where the modules are flanged together to form one or multiple water supply pipes with water mist sections in the full length of the tunnel pipe. The TUNPROTEC system includes the following features in one system: Active Low Pressure Water Mist Fire Protection System: Pump system and pump controls. Zone operated Stainless steel AISI 316L Water Mist System With water supply pipes, and nozzle pipes with nozzles for tunnel pipe fire protection. Addressable Fire detection in tunnel pipe with heat and flame detection. Addressable monitoring of tunnel pipe with individual operated monitors for visual observation. System monitoring, system activation and communication control station and system interface to control and alarm system of the tunnel operator. The TUNPROTEC system is characterized by: The system has full redundancies on all key features including all power supplies, and communication and signal lines. All electrical circuits, sensors, panels and electrical connections are monitored with automatic addressable alarms. The whole hydraulic water mist system is monitored with addressable alarms. The whole system is modular build easy to connect, install and commission, and maintain. 4
Protection System The tunnel pipe is divided into protection zones. Each protection zone being 18 to 20m long and covering the full width of the tunnel pipe. TUNPROTEC design in tunnel. The tunnel protection modules are factory assembled with: Water supply pipe, which is custom hydraulic designed for the actual tunnel installation Ceiling hangers for each 3m Nozzle pipe and water mist nozzles. Protection zone Activation Valve, for activation from TUNPROTEC communication system Water pressure control switch Zone control and data and signal communication panels in heat protective stainless steel boxes. Flame detectors and heat detectors in stainless steel AISI 316L IP 67 casings. WEB cameras. Redundant signal wiring in stainless steel AISI 316 pipes Redundant power supply wiring in stainless steel AISI 316L pipes. Redundant fiber signal lines in stainless steel AISI 316 pipes Heat protected stainless steel IP 67 connection boxes. One 20m section of the VID Fire-Kill TUNPROTEC system. Technical data (Brief): Pipe system: Materials: Stainless steel AISI 316L Rated pressure class: PN16 Water pressure: 10 bar Water density: 2,5-3 mm/min (depending on tunnel width) Protection zones: Length: 18-20m Active zones: 3 zones Fire Detection System: IP class: Components in tunnel Pipe: P 66 Materials: Casings: Stainless steel AISI 316L Fire detection: Addressable Double Knock system in each protection zone: 2 x Flame detectors 4 x heat detectors 2 x web cameras Data transmission: Fiber (redundancy) with gateway panels minimum every 25 protection zone CAN buss. Monitoring circuits: 24VDC Pump unit systems: Type: Electrical or Diesel Materials: Stainless steel AISI 316L Monitoring circuits: 24VDC Rated pressure class: PN16 Nominal flow: 45m 3 /h or 90m 3 /h 5
An Active Tunnel Fire Fire Fighting Performance In April/May 2009 the VID Fire-Kill tunnel system in a series of full scale tunnel fires in the Runehamar Test Tunnel in Åndalsness, Norway. The test fires had potential heat releases representing fires in trucks and busses and smaller multiple car fires. The fire test scenarios consisted of diesel oil and solid fuels fires. The fires were designed to have potential heat releases of up to 100MW. In all fire tests was an oil drum filled with water placed 3m downstream the fire sources and a stack of five wooden pallets placed 6m downstream the fire. The purpose of the oil drum was to show if fires can cause bursts on fuel tanks in fire situations after the VID Fire-Kill system is activated and the purpose of the wooden pallets was to show if fires can spread in fire situations after the VID Fire-Kill system is activated. The fire tests were designed and conducted by Sintef NBL, who also conducted all measurements, data recordings and reporting from the tests. The Runehamar Test Tunnel The purposes with the fire test scenarios were to investigate the fire fighting ability of the VID Fire-Kill Low Pressure Water Mist Tunnel Protection System in large full developed tunnel fires. The fire protection system was first activated after the test fires had has time to develop into large fires with large heat outputs. 360 wooden pallets stacked to create potential 100MW fire The fire tests were conducted with three active fire protection zones. Nozzle pipes were installed in the ceiling, in the centre of the 9 meter wide test tunnel, 0.8 km from the tunnel entrances. In all test fires the nozzle pipes were manually activated to distribute water mist in the tunnel pipe at 10 bar water pressure after the test fire had time to develop high heat outputs. The 100MW test Temperature control In all fires the activation of the VID Fire- Kill Tunnel Protection system the water mist provided an immediate drop in temperatures in the tunnel on all levels above the road. In all test fires the fires the protection system kept the temperatures below temperatures which causes damages to concrete tunnel structures, and in all fire tests the temperatures 2m above ground was kept below 100Cº not causing harm to people in the tunnel. 6
Protection System The nozzle pipes inside the tunnel where connected to a 0.8 km long 4 water supply pipe connecting the nozzle pipes to a pump system outside the tunnel. The pump system consisted of two std. Grundfoss CR45-9-2 water pumps. The total pump capacity was 90 m³/h at 10 bar water pressure. The pump system required a power supply of only 60 amps. Only fresh water with no additives was used during the fire tests. It was found that the VID Fire-Kill tunnel systems successfully managed to: Control and suppress fires with potential heat releases up to 100MW. Cool temperatures inside a tunnel to a level where the tunnel structures remains intact. Prevent fire spread. Enhance visibility. Prevention of fire spread Enhance visibilities Fires having a potential heat output of up to 100MW fires will not spread to other vehicles in the tunnel tube if a VID Fire-Kill Tunnel Protection System is installed in the tunnel. The heat from a potential 100 MW large fire did only cause a temperature increase of 20ºC to the water in the steel barrow 3m downstream the fire, indicating that fuel tanks 3m away from a fire will not burst from heat in tunnels where a VID Fire-Kill Tunnel System is active. During the fire tests it was possible to enter the tunnel without any kind of breathing or heat protection, and to stay in the tunnel tube as close as a few meters down stream the test fires, provided that the ventilation system was on (1m/s 2m/s) and the VID Fire-Kill Tunnel protection system is on too. This makes it possible for rescuing and manual fire fighting to take place at an early time in a tunnel fires in tunnels where the VID Fire-Kill Tunnel Protection system is installed. Test results Test ld. Scenario Potential Heat Release Rate (HRR) Time at Ignition Time at Activation Activation Delay Water Pressure Time to Extinguishing after Activation Time to Temperature Control at +5m, after Activation Target pallet damage (MV) (hh:mm:ss) (hh:mm:ss) (hh:mm:ss) (Bar) (sec) (sec) Test A 12 m 2 pool 25-30 18:51:32 18:54:50 0:03:18 10,0 <60 <30 No damage Test B Test C 180 wood pallets 360 wood pallets 50 21:08:20 21:14:35 0:06:15 10,0 - <30 No damage 100 10:27:49 10:33:34 0:05:45 10,0 - <180 No damage Source: Sintef NBL test report 7
Test and approvals The fire fighting abilities of VID Fire-Kill Low Pressure Water Mist technologies was tested in full scale tunnel fires as a part of the EU UPTUN project for investigation of the available possibilities for UPgrading of exsisting TUNnels. The UPTUN project involved diesel and solid fuel fires of sizes from 6MW to 25MW. The fire fighting abilities of VID Fire-Kill Low Pressure Water Mist System TUNPROTEC was tested in 2009 by SINTEF NBL in full scale tunnel fires in the 1,8km long Runehammar road tunnel owned by the Norwegian Road administration. The fire tests involved diesel oil pool fires and solid fuel fires of 25 MW to 100MW. The Low Pressure Water Mist system TUNPROTEC has been tested by The Danish Fire Test Laboratories (DFL) to the water mist component requirements of IMO MSC Circ. 1165 with maximum prescribed concentration of pollution elements used in the Nozzle clogging test. All electronic components have been EMC tested and is CE marked. VID Fire-Kill Aps Svalbardvej 13 DK-5700 Svendborg Tel. +45 6262 1024 Fax. +45 6262 3661 Mail: vid@vidaps.dk Web: www.vid.eu Tryk: www.svendborgtryk.dk. Svanemærket tryksag - licens nr. 541-072 Tryk: www.svendborgtryk.dk