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Tunnelling and Underground Space Technology 86 (2019) 63–74

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Tunnelling and Underground Space Technology

journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/tust

Theoretical prediction model and full-scale experimental study of central T

smoke extraction with a uniform smoke rate in a tunnel fire
⁎
P. Xua,b, , R.J. Xinga, S.P. Jiangc, L.J. Lia
a
School of Civil Engineering, Chongqing Jiaotong University, Chongqing 400074, China
b
State Key Laboratory Cultivation Base for Bridge and Tunnel Engineering in Mountain Areas, Chongqing Jiaotong University, Chongqing 400074, China
c
China Merchants Chongqing Communications Technology Research & Design Institute Co., LTD, Chongqing 400067, China

A R T I C LE I N FO A B S T R A C T

Keywords: A large amount of smoke may be discharged from a smoke extraction damper located close to extraction fans in
Tunnel fire central smoke extraction systems, which greatly reduces the efficiency and increases the energy consumption.
Central smoke extraction Therefore, we propose the concept of smoke extraction with a uniform smoke rate. Adjusting the damper angle
Uniform smoke rate can make the extraction rate uniform for each damper, so the higher temperature smoke can be discharged
Theoretical prediction model
furthest through the damper nearest the fire. We established theoretical models according to the relationships
Full-scale experiment
between the smoke velocities, extraction rate, damper angle, and wind pressure for fans in traditional and
uniform systems. Based on the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macao immersed tunnel in China, an experimental tunnel
with the largest cross section size in the world is constructed. The results showed that in the traditional system,
40–60% of smoke was discharged through the damper nearest to the fan, whereas the extraction rate for each
damper could be equalized by controlling the angle in the uniform system and 8–23% of the energy could also be
conserved. The results suggested that the damper nearby the fire should be open and the number of dampers can
be adjusted to control the smoke spread range and achieve effective energy savings.

1. Introduction tunnels and in congested conditions. In the transverse extraction

Accidents related to tunnel fires can cause large numbers of ca-
sualties and great damage to property. The fires in the Mont Blanc
tunnel, Tauern tunnel, and Gotthard road tunnel were all typical ex-
amples of the major fire accidents that have occurred throughout the
world, where they resulted in 39, 12, and 11 deaths, respectively
(Leitner, 2001; Beard and Carvel, 2005). According to accident in-
vestigations and analyses, the large amounts of toxic smoke produced
by incomplete combustion and the low visibility caused by smoke are
the main factors responsible for casualties in tunnel fires (Babrauskas
et al., 1998; Vianello et al., 2012), and thus research into the smoke
control in tunnel fire has increased in recent years. Fire smoke control
systems have two main functions, where they must ensure safe eva-
cuation and provide a safe route to the fire source for rescuers. These
systems mainly comprise a longitudinal extraction system, transverse
extraction system, and central smoke extraction system. The long-
itudinal extraction system blows smoke to the fire source downstream,
which readily disrupts the stratification of the smoke and exposes
personnel to the smoky environment. Therefore, although this system is
simple and economical, it is very dangerous to use in bidirectional
system, the movement of direction for the smoke is perpendicular to the
longitudinal direction of the tunnel, and thus the smoke in the tunnel
has a short path for movement, which can be exhausted in time, thereby
avoid disrupting the stratification of the smoke and the longitudinal
spread of the smoke. However, the transverse extraction system is
complex and expensive, so the central smoke extraction system is more
widely used. The central smoke extraction system combines the ad-
vantages of the longitudinal and transverse extraction systems by only
opening the dampers near the fire source and exhausting the smoke
with a reasonable longitudinal wind velocity.
Studies of longitudinal extraction systems have been conducted for
many years, and thus more details are available regarding the smoke
spread range, back-layering length, critical wind velocity, and smoke
physical parameters (Li et al., 2011, 2010; Hu et al., 2008; Weng et al.,
2016; Wang et al., 2016; Hu et al., 2010; Huo et al., 2015; Gao et al.,
2015, 2016; Ji et al., 2018). However, research into the central smoke
extraction system started later and more difficulties were identified, so
it has been the main focus of smoke control research in recent years
(Lougheed et al., 1999; Klote, 2002; Hu et al., 2006; Yi et al., 2015).
Initially, studies of the central extraction system focused on the

⁎
Corresponding author at: Chongqing Jiaotong University, No. 66 Xuefu Rd., Nan’an Dist., Chongqing 400074, China.
E-mail address: xu_pai@126.com (P. Xu).

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tust.2019.01.014
Received 8 February 2018; Received in revised form 14 December 2018; Accepted 15 January 2019
0886-7798/ © 2019 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
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P. Xu et al.
Fig. 1. Schematic of central extraction system.
effectiveness of smoke spread control with single-point extraction
(SPE), before the development of two point extraction and multi-point
extraction (MPE). Vauquelin and Megret (2002) conducted tunnel fire
experiments using a 1:20th scale model of a tunnel in order to in-
vestigate the effects of the location and shape of the smoke dampers on
the extraction efficiency of the system. The tunnel was equipped with
two extraction dampers and no natural longitudinal ventilation. Sub-
sequently, Vauquelin and Telle (2005) considered the longitudinal fresh
air flow in a smoke extraction system and defined the confinement
velocity to describe the minimum value of the longitudinal air flow
needed to prevent the propagation of the smoke layer. They also em-
ployed a 1:20th scale model of a tunnel. Lin and Chuah (2008) com-
pared the SPE and MPE, and showed that the SPE system was more
effective than the MPE system for partial transverse ventilation based
on the computational fluid dynamics (CFD) simulation method. Ingason
and Li (2011) conducted a model scale (1:23) experiment to determine
whether the SPE and two point extraction system could effectively
control the spread of smoke with forced longitudinal ventilation or
natural ventilation. Recent research has focused on various key para-
meters. In particular, the effectiveness of central extraction and the
related design parameters have been determined in great depth. Chen
et al. (2013) investigated the smoke layering length in a central ven-
tilation system by combining a theoretical model and reduced scale
model experiments. Tanaka et al. (2015) explored the performance of
point ventilation in a full-scale tunnel experiment at a scale of 1/5th
size, where they considered the distribution and concentration of the
temperature, longitudinal wind velocity, mass flow of smoke in the
point ventilation duct, and the heat release rate (HRR). Chen et al.
(2015) focused on the effect of the distance between the ceiling ex-
traction system and the heat source on the smoke back-layering flow
length in a point extraction ventilation system based on a reduced scale
tunnel experiment. Zhu et al. (2016) considered the South Hongmei
Road tunnel and showed that a three-point extraction opening strategy
could control the smoke better than two-point extraction according to
CFD simulations. Mei et al. (2017) conducted a series of model scale
experiments to determine the smoke layer thickness and plug-holing in
the MPE system. They found that the smoke plug-holing exhaust rate
decreased as the number of point extraction openings increased for a
given HRR.
However, due to the complexity of the distribution of smoke in the
central extraction system, many problems still need to be addressed. For
instance, the imbalanced smoke extraction rate for each damper has
always been ignored when multiple dampers are opened at the same
time. The distances between the fan and each damper are different, so
the diverse smoke extraction paths lead to extremely imbalanced re-
sistance losses, and the smoke extraction rate from the first smoke
damper and the last vary greatly. Thus, a large amount of smoke with a
lower temperature and lower concentration will be discharged from the
damper near the extraction fan, whereas a small amount of smoke with
a higher temperature and higher concentration will be discharged from
the damper near the fire source, thereby severely decreasing the ex-
traction efficiency. Therefore, there is an urgent need to determine how
to discharge as much smoke as possible from the damper near the fire
source to improve the smoke extraction efficiency. In addition, previous
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studies generally involved a reduced scale model test, CFD numerical
simulation test, or a combination of both methods. Some useful con-
clusions were obtained but full-scale fire tests are needed for data
verification purposes. In order to address these problems, we propose
the concept of central smoke extraction with a uniform smoke rate,
where the aim is to make the smoke rate from each damper uniform by
regulating the opening angle of the damper at different locations,
thereby also improving the extraction efficiency. We considered the
Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macao immersed tunnel in China and established a
full-scale experimental tunnel to conduct a series of experiments with
the traditional extraction mode (central smoke extraction with all the
dampers opened) and new extraction mode (uniform smoke extraction
with a uniform extraction rate), including conditions with different
amounts of extraction openings, distances, and angles. We performed
theoretical analyses of the air distribution in the central extraction
system, established theoretical prediction models for the key para-
meters in the traditional extraction and uniform extraction systems, and
explored the smoke movement law in the extraction duct and dampers.
We then compared the smoke extraction rate and energy consumption
under the two extraction modes based on a theoretical model and full-
scale test. The effectiveness and energy-saving benefits of the uniform
extraction system are validated and a reasonable damper opening
scheme is proposed.
2. Theoretical prediction models
2.1. Traditional central smoke extraction system
The traditional central extraction system is shown in Fig. 1. When a
fire occurs, the smoke dampers near the fire source are opened com-
pletely and the smoke in the tunnel is drawn into the extraction duct
because of the negative pressure. Not considering the effect of the
natural wind or mechanical wind in the tunnel can simplify the bidir-
ectional smoke extraction mode into two unidirectional smoke extrac-
tion modes, which are open symmetrically with half the extraction rate
and half the number of dampers opened. Therefore, we conducted this
study based on the unidirectional extraction modes.
Assuming that the number of dampers opened downstream of the
fire is n, then considering the smoke in the extraction duct as the re-
search objective, the smoke velocity produced by static pressure and
dynamic pressure at the location of each damper is shown in Fig. 2.
Based on the energy conservation, momentum conservation, and mass
conservation equations, we established theoretical models for pre-
dicting the smoke velocity in the duct and dampers, as well as the
damper area, smoke rate, and wind pressure.
Mass conservation equation
ρ1 ·v j1·S = ρ1 ·v d1·A (1)
ρ1 ·v j1·S + ρ2 ·v j2·S = ρ2 ·v d2·A (2)
·····
ρ1 ·v j1·S + ρ2 ·v j2·S + ⋯+ρn ·v jn·S = ρn ·v dn·A (3)
Energy conservation equation
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Fig. 2. A simplified theoretical physical model.

Table 1 A·Pfan = ρfan ·Qfan 2 A − ρ1 ·v d21 ·A (7)

The local resistance coefficient of the direct part as air flow through the opening
(Xiangzhao, 2005). ρn 2 ρ ρfan
v d + n v j2n + Pfan = (Qfan A)2 + Rn fan
2 n 2 2 (8)
L0 /L 0 0.1 0.2 0.3 0.4 0.5 0.6 0.7 0.8 0.9 ∼1
where
ζ 0.15 0.05 0.02 0.01 0.03 0.07 0.12 0.17 0.23 0.29 0.35

Note: L0—The extraction rate of a single extraction damper, m3/s. L—The total ρfan —Density of smoke discharged from fan, kg/m3;
extraction rate in the extraction duct, m3/s. Qfan —Extraction rate of fan, m3/s;
Pfan —Total pressure of fan, Pa;
Table 2 Rn fan —Total resistance along the duct between section n and fan,
The smoke extraction rate in tunnel fire. Pa.
HRR (MW) 5 10 20 40 50
2.2. Central smoke extraction with a uniform smoke rate
3
Qfan (m /s) 38.96 60.07 97.4 166.21 198.22
The extraction dampers near the fire source are completely open in
ρ2 2 ρ the traditional central extraction system and a large amount of smoke
v j − 1 v j21 = R1 2 near the fan with a lower temperature and lower concentration that is
2 2 2 (4)
entrained by fresh air must be discharged from the dampers. However,
····· the smoke that needs to be discharged near the fire source with a higher
ρn 2 ρ temperature and higher concentration cannot be exhausted effectively
v j − 1 v j21 = R1 n because of the larger energy loss. Thus, the smoke extraction efficiency
2 n 2 (5)
decreases greatly. It has been shown that a uniform smoke rate from
where each damper is the most effective method for exhausting the smoke
(PIARC, 2007). Hence, a new type of central smoke extraction mode is
ρ1… ρn —Smoke density before dampers are opened at damper 1… proposed, where the angle of each damper is regulated to control the
damper n, kg/m3; opening area and to balance the smoke rate and pressure loss, thereby
v d1…v dn —Smoke velocity at section 1…section n caused by dynamic achieving a uniform smoke extraction rate to improve the extraction
pressure, m/s; efficiency and reduce the energy consumption.
v j1…v jn —Smoke velocity at section 1…section n caused by static Assuming that the number of dampers opened downstream of the
pressure, m/s; fire is n in the new smoke extraction system, we can make the extrac-
R1 2⋯R1 n —Total resistance along the duct between section 1 and tion rate for each damper uniform by regulating the angles of the
section 2…between section 1 and section n, Pa; dampers. In the same manner as the traditional smoke extraction
A—Cross-sectional area of extraction duct, m2; system, we treat the smoke in the extraction duct as the control ob-
S —Opening area of extraction damper, m2. jective to establish theoretical prediction models based on the key
parameters.
Boundary condition Mass conservation equation
ρn ·v dn·A = ρfan ·Qfan (6) ρ1 ·Q = ρ1 ·v d1·A (9)

Fig. 3. The experimental tunnel.

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Fig. 4. Cross-section schematic of the experimental model of an immersed tube tunnel.

ρn 2 ρ
Table 3 v j − 1 v j21 = R1 n
Model tunnel cross-section dimensions. 2 n 2 (13)

L1 L2 L3 L4 L5 L6 L7 Area Perimeter Boundary condition

0.7 m 11.3 m 2.8 m 3.5 m 7.1 m 4.4 m 14.5 m 97.8 m 2

41.2 m ρn ·v dn·A = ρfan ·Qfan (14)

A·Pfan = ρfan ·Qfan 2 A − ρ1 ·v d21 ·A (15)

Table 4
Fuel weighing system. ρn 2 ρ ρfan
v dn + n v j2n + Pfan = (Qfan A)2 + Rn fan
2 2 2 (16)
Number Range/ Dimensions Picture
Accuracy
In order to realize uniform smoke extraction, the angles of dampers
1 3 t/1 kg 5 m × 2.5 m are the velocity direction in uniform smoke extraction mode:
v dn
tan αn =
v jn (17)

where
2 500 kg/ 1m×1m
100 g
αn —The angle of the nth extraction damper, °. Regulate the angles of
dampers to change effective smoke extraction area and realize
uniform smoke extraction.

2.3. Key parameters

ρ1 ·Q + ρ2 ·Q = ρ2 ·v d2·A (10)
The following key parameters should be considered to solve the
····· theoretical models.
ρ1 ·Q + ρ2 ·Q + ⋯+ρn ·Q = ρn ·v dn·A (11)
(1) Density
Energy conservation equation
ρ2 2 ρ The overall real-time monitoring of the smoke temperature field in
v j − 1 v j21 = R1 2
2 2 2 (12) the tunnel and extraction duct is determined in a full-scale test (Xu,
····· 2014) to obtain the spatial distribution trend in the fire field

Table 5
Instrumentation in radiant heat flux measurement system.
Name Range Specifications Number Picture

Captec radiation heat flux sensor ± 500 kW/m 2

HS-30B 4

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(a) 5MW (b) 10MW

(c) 20MW (d) 50MW

Fig. 5. Experimental source with different fire heat release rates.

(a) Schematic diagram of the temperature monitoring section arranged along the longitudinal
direction of the tunnel (m).

(b) Schematic showing the temperature measurement points in cross section.

Fig. 6. Space temperature measurement system used in the test tunnel.

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700 l —Length of extraction duct, m;

10MW
20MW D —Equivalent diameter of extraction duct, m.
600
40MW
50MW B, Local loss in the passageway (direct part) for the extraction
500
damper Rj1 and local loss for the extraction damper Rj2 .
The extraction duct is regarded as a “T” with a branch pipe length of
400
0. As smoke is discharged from damper, two areas of local resistance are
ºC

produced comprising the local resistance for the direct part Rj1 and for
300 the extraction damper Rj2 . The local resistance coefficient for the direct
area is shown in Table 1 and the local resistance coefficient for the
200
extraction damper is approximately 0.6–0.65.

100
(3) Smoke extraction rate

0
0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100
The theoretical calculation for the smoke extraction rate in the
tunnel fire approximates the smoke generation rate in the axisymmetric
L (m)
plume, as shown in Table 2.
Fig. 7. Longitudinal distribution of temperature along the tunnel.
(4) Cross-sectional area of the extraction duct and extraction damper
environment under different fire HRR levels. The corresponding smoke
The Guidelines for Design of Ventilation of Highway Tunnel (Ministry of
density can then be determined:
Transport of the People’s Republic of China, 2014) in China note that
T0 the smoke velocity should not exceed 15 m/s in the smoke extraction
ρ = ρ0 ·
T (18) duct and 10 m/s through the damper, which allows reasonable cross-
where sectional areas to be defined for the extraction duct and extraction
damper.
ρ0 —Smoke density under the reference state, 1.295 kg/m3;
T0 —Smoke temperature under the reference state, 273 K;
T—Temperature at the position of any extraction damper, K; 3. Full-scale experiment
ρ —Corresponding density, kg/m3.
(2) Resistance loss The full-scale experimental tunnel (Xu et al., 2018), which is com-
posed of tunnel structure and smoke extraction duct, is constructed
Resistance loss R in the models includes the loss along the extraction according to Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macao immersed tunnel. The dimen-
duct Rf , local loss in the passageway (direct part) for the extraction sions of the experimental tunnel are 150 m (length) × 14.5 m
damper Rj1, and the local loss for the extraction damper Rj2 : (width) × 7.1 m (height). The smoke extraction duct, which is located
on the upper part of tunnel side wall and whose dimensions are 150 m
R = Rf + Rj1 + Rj2 (19) (length) × 2.2 m (width) × 3 m (height), is welded by steel slab. There
A, The loss along the extraction duct Rf : are six sets of extraction dampers with a spacing of 22.5 m on the side of
the duct, which is connected to the tunnel. An axial fan is installed at
l ρv dn 2 each end of the duct. Schematic diagrams are shown in Figs. 3 and 4.
Rf = λ· ·
D 2 (20) The model cross-section dimensions are shown in Table 3. The me-
where chanical and electrical facilities are included in the tunnel, such as
ventilation, lighting, fire protection and monitoring, and test mea-
λ —Resistance coefficient along the extraction duct, 0.022; surement system, such as fire source calibration, temperature, radiant
heat flux, smoke velocity, smoke concentration and smoke spread

Fig. 8. Smoke velocity measurement system in the experimental tunnel.

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Fig. 9. Smoke velocity distribution in the traditional central smoke extraction system (point 0 is fire source and the point at 150 m is the fan).

observation system.
The HRR is usually measured by either the weight-loss method or
radiation method. Both methods were adopted in this experiment for
corroboration. The methods are as follows:
• Weight loss method: Q̇ = ṁ ′ A × χ × ΔH ,
′
g details were reported in a previous study (Xu, 2016).
where Q̇ is the fire heat release rate (MW); ṁ ′ ′ is the combustion rate
(kg/m2 s); A is the combustion area (m2); ΔHg is the complete com-
bustion calorific value (diesel oil 42 MJ/kg; gasoline 45 MJ/kg); and χ
is the combustion efficiency (0.3–0.9).
The HRR is obtained by measuring ṁ ′ ′ by a fuel weighing system.
Two types of weighbridge were selected in accordance with the quality
of the fuel, as shown in Table 4.
• Radiation method: q str = C1·PRHR R2 ,
where qstr is the unit radiation flux R meters from the fire source
(W/m2); PRHR is the total heat release rate: PRHR = χr ·Q̇ (W); χr is the
radiation efficiency (0.2–0.6); and C1 is a proportionality constant:
4πR2q
C1 = 1 4π , then Q̇ = χ str .
r tunnel. The HRR differed but the temperature attenuation law tended to
The HRR is obtained by measuring qstr by a radiant heat flux mea-
surement system. Total heat flux sensors were set up 8 m, 18 m, and
48 m from the fire source and 1.5 m above the ground to monitor the
total heat flux during tests. Captec radiation heat flux sensors were
selected (Table 5).
Experimental fire sources with different HRR levels were obtained
by adjusting the area of the fire source, as shown in Fig. 5. Further
The smoke density depends on the temperature and it is a key
parameter in theoretical prediction models. Therefore, the overall
temperature measurement system was needed in the experimental
tunnel. A thermocouple with high stability, high precision, and a simple
structure is one of the most common temperature testing instruments.
Thus, a type K sheathed thermocouple was used for the test in the
present study. The temperatures were detected at 330 locations in the
tunnel space by monitoring sections A1–A9. The position of each sec-
tion and the spacings between the sections are shown in Fig. 6(a). Six
longitudinal thermocouple beams comprising 5–6 thermocouples with a
spacing of 1 m in each beam were located on each section, as shown in
Fig. 6(b). The average smoke temperature distributions along the
longitudinal direction in the tunnel at HRR levels of 10 MW, 20 MW,
40 MW, and 50 MW are shown in Fig. 7. The smoke driven by the
buoyancy force spread from the fire source downstream along the
be consistent, where it was almost exponentially distributed. The smoke
layer temperature was higher when the HRR was greater.

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Fig. 10. Smoke velocity distribution in the uniform smoke extraction system (point 0 is the fire source and the point at 150 m is the fan).
Anemometers were used to measure the smoke velocity in the ex-
traction duct and extraction dampers. Data were collected from five
measurement points in the extraction duct and the extraction dampers,
as shown in Fig. 8.
4. Results and discussion
4.1. Theoretical model solving
The smoke flow was considered to be unidirectional where the
cross-sectional area of the smoke extraction duct was 6.6 m2 and the
spacing between the extraction dampers was 22.5 m. The extraction
rate reached 60 m3/s when the HRR was 10 MW. The two modes of
traditional smoke extraction and uniform smoke extraction were tested
where two, three, or four dampers were discussed downstream of the
fire source, and the distance between the fire source and the first ex-
traction damper downstream of the fire source was 22.5 m or 45 m. By
combining Eqs. (1)–(8) and Eqs. (9)–(17), the smoke flows determined
in the duct and at the damper along the tunnel under the two modes are
shown in Figs. 9 and 10.
The theoretical prediction results showed that the smoke velocities
in the duct and damper increased as the distance to the fan decreased.
Due to the function of the extraction fans, the smoke extraction rate
gradually increased and the dynamic pressure also increased from the
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beginning of the duct to the end (fan), and thus the velocity in the duct
became higher. In addition, the static pressure decreased (negative) and
the pressure differences between inside and outside of the extraction
duct increased, thereby making the velocity at the damper increase
constantly.
We then determined a reasonable quantity of dampers for opening.
As the number of opened extraction dampers increased, the smoke
velocities decreased in both the extraction duct and the extraction
damper. Thus, the smoke velocity could be efficiently decreased by
increasing the number of opened extraction dampers and the energy
loss decreased. In addition, when fewer dampers were opened, the
smoke spread range was shorter and this would be more favorable for
helping people to escape. Therefore, it is necessary to reduce the
number of opened smoke extraction dampers as much as possible ac-
cording to the requirements for the smoke velocities in the extraction
duct and extraction damper given in the Guidelines for Design of
Ventilation of Highway Tunnel (Ministry of Transport of the People’s
Republic of China, 2014). When three extraction dampers were opened,
the smoke velocity in the extraction duct was less than 15 m/s and that
in the extraction damper was less than 10 m/s, which were reasonable
velocities.
We then investigated the reasonable locations for opening dampers
downstream of the fire source. In Figs. 9 and 10, the panels on the left
and right show the smoke velocity distribution along the tunnel when
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50 50

n=2 n=2
40 n=3 40 n=3
n=4 n=4

30 30
Q(m /s)
3

20 20

10 10

0 0
20 40 60 80 100 20 40 60 80 100
L (m) L (m)
(a) Traditional central extraction mode.

45 45

n=2 n=2
40 n=3 40 n=3

35 35
Q (m3/s)

30 30

25 25

20 20
20 40 60 80 100 120 140 20 40 60 80 100 120 140
L (m) L (m)
(b) Smoke extraction with a uniform smoke rate.
Fig. 11. Extraction rates for each damper.

Table 6 Table 8
Opening angles of extraction dampers with uniform smoke extraction (°). Experimental conditions.
Vents Distance (m) Test Smoke extraction The number of The distance between the
mode dampers opened first damper and the fire
22.5 45
Number 1 Traditional 2 22.5 m
2 45 m
1 2 3 1 2 3 3 3 22.5 m
4 45 m
n=2 30.84 38.64 – 31.64 39.25 – 5 4 22.5 m
n=3 28.84 36.84 44.54 37.51 42.14 45.81 6 45 m

7 Uniform 2 22.5 m
8 45 m
Table 7 9 3 22.5 m
Comparison of fan pressures in the two types of extraction modes. 10 45 m
11 4 22.5 m
Vents Distance (m) 12 45 m

22.5 45 22.5 45
Fan
Pressure (Pa) the first extraction damper was opened 22.5 m and 45 m away from the
fire source, respectively, where the velocity in the former case was
Traditional Traditional Uniform Uniform slightly higher than that in latter because the buoyancy of the smoke
around the fire accelerated the extraction of the smoke. Thus, it is more
n=2 74.67 76.17 62.52 64.63
n=3 85.9 85.12 79.13 80.15
reasonable to keep the extraction damper open near the fire source
n=4 89.36 90.83 – – under the situation of ensuring that the smoke velocity did not exceed
the required limit.

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(a) The preparation for fire source
(c) Smoke spread
Fig. 12. The experimental scenario.
Fig. 13. Comparison of the results obtained by the theoretical model and the experimental test results.
As shown in Fig. 11(a), the distributions of the extraction rate and
smoke velocity in the extraction damper were fairly consistent in the
traditional central smoke extraction mode, where they increased gra-
dually because the same damper area was opened. The theoretical re-
sults showed that in the traditional central extraction mode, the ex-
traction rates gradually increased for each extraction damper along the
tunnel. The extraction rate was larger because the extraction damper
was closer to the fan. About 40–60% of the smoke was exhausted from
the extraction damper nearest the fan, so it was necessary to adjust the
angle of the extraction damper to increase the local resistance and
balance the extraction rate, thereby preventing most of the smoke from
being exhausted from the damper nearest to the fan and reducing the
extraction efficiency. As shown in Fig. 11(b), the extraction rates
through the extraction dampers were approximately the same in the
uniform extraction mode, thereby achieving the aim of extraction with
a uniform smoke rate. The angles of the extraction dampers in this case
are shown in Table 6. The angle of dampers gradually increases. This is
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(b) Ignition
(d) Opening extraction dampers
mainly due to the fact that the smoke passes through the dampers at a
certain angle, and the dampers acts as a diversion to promote the smoke
discharge smoothly.
In addition, the conclusion about the numbers and locations of ex-
traction damper opened discussed from extraction rates were consistent
with that from smoke velocity of ducts and dampers. Thus, increasing
the number of opened extraction dampers could decrease the extraction
rate in the uniform mode, and opening the dampers near the fire source
exhausted the smoke more effectively.
It should be noted that in the uniform extraction mode, when four
dampers were opened, the extraction rate for each damper was ex-
cessively low and efficient extraction could not be achieved because it
was difficult for the driving force to overcome the higher resistance.
Therefore, the numbers of opened dampers in the uniform extraction
mode should be defined based on calculations.
Through the energy analysis, the wind pressure of the fan in all
working conditions of two extraction mode is shown in Table 7. The
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P. Xu et al.
wind pressures in the traditional mode were 5–15% higher than those
in the uniform mode. According to the relationship between the wind
pressure and energy, the energy could be reduced by about 8%–23% in
the uniform mode. The position of the first extraction damper down-
stream of the fire source and the number of opened extraction dampers
could also affect the energy. Fewer dampers were opened when the
extraction damper was closer to the fire and less energy was needed, so
the energy saving effect was greater.
4.2. Comparison of model predictions with experiments
The prediction results obtained with the theoretical model were
verified based on the full-scale experiment. We selected HRR = 10 MW
as the experimental fire scenario and the variables comprised the ex-
traction mode (traditional extraction or uniform smoke extraction),
number of opened extraction dampers (two, three, or four), and the
distance between the first damper and the fire source (22.5 m or 45 m).
The experimental conditions are shown in Table 8. The experimental
scenario is shown in Fig. 12. After the ignition of the fire source, the
smoke spread along the tunnel. As the smoke layer sank to the bottom
of the extraction damper, the dampers were opened and the smoke
extraction effect was obvious.
We considered Test 9 as the typical experimental conditions and
compared the theoretical results for the smoke velocity in the duct and
at the damper with the experimental results, as shown in Fig. 13. The
comparison showed that the trends in the theoretical and experimental
results were fairly consistent, although the maximum error reached
20%. The error was mainly due to the measurement system, signal
transmission, data conversion with acquisition software, and other
factors. The error in the temperature measurement system was
about ± 3–8% and that in the velocity measurement system was
about ± 2.5%. In the test conditions, the calculated opening angles for
the three extraction dampers were 28.84°, 36.84°, and 44.54°, respec-
tively, and they were 30°, 40°, and 50° in the experiment. The error
range was below 15%, because the adjustment of the extraction damper
angle was associated with large human errors in the experiment. The
results were similar under the other working conditions. In conclusion,
the theoretical model developed in this study was validated. Thus, the
best solution is to open the first, second, and third (group) extraction
dampers near the fire source, and to adjust the opening angles of these
dampers to 28.84°, 36.84°, and 44.54°, respectively.
5. Conclusions
In this study, we proposed the concept of uniform smoke extraction
and conducted a full-scale fire experiment based on the Hong Kong-
Zhuhai-Macao immersed tunnel in China. Our major findings are
summarized as follows.
(1) The longitudinal distribution of the smoke velocity in the extraction
duct and damper exhibited a gradually increasing trend from the
beginning to the end (fan). Increasing the number of opened
dampers could greatly decrease the smoke velocities in the duct and
damper, but it also expanded the smoke spread range to hinder the
evacuation of people. Thus, the number of opened dampers should
be controlled to satisfy the smoke velocity limit.
(2) In terms of the smoke extraction rate, about 40–60% of the ex-
tracted smoke was exhausted from the dampers near to the fan in
the traditional mode. By contrast, the extraction rate from each
damper was equal in the uniform extraction mode. In order to ex-
haust the maximum amount of higher temperature smoke, the best
solution is to open the first, second, and third (group) extraction
dampers near the fire source, and to adjust the opening angles of
these dampers to 28.84°, 36.84°, and 44.54°, respectively.
(3) According to the energy analysis, the wind pressure under the tra-
ditional mode was 5–15% higher than that in the uniform
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Tunnelling and Underground Space Technology 86 (2019) 63–74
extraction mode and the energy consumption was 8–23% higher.
Using the uniform extraction mode and opening the damper near to
the fire will prevent the smoke velocity limit from being exceeded
when fewer dampers are open, and the energy saving effect will be
higher.
Acknowledgments
The authors gratefully acknowledge the support extended by
Chongqing Nature Science Foundation (Award No. cstc2016jcyjA1548),
Chongqing education commission science and technology research
project (Award No. KJ1600505), Fundamental Research Funds for the
Central Universities of China and Opening funds of the State Key
Laboratory Cultivation Base for Bridge and Tunnel Engineering in
Mountain Areas under Grant no. CQSLBF-Y16-17 and Natural Science
Foundation of China (NSFC) under Grant No. 51508065 for funding this
research. The authors would like to thank the editor and the reviewers
for their helpful comments and constructive suggestions which have
significantly improved the quality of this paper.
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