Fire tests with automatic sprinklers in an intermediate scale tunnel

• A series of 1:3 intermediate scale tunnel fire tests was performed to investigate the performance of a fully automatic sprinkler system in a road tunnel. The experiments were carried in a container tunnel with scaled geometry, using wood pallets as the fire source to simulate HGV fires. The activation of the sprinklers was simulated by using thermocouples that corresponded to a given Thermal Response Index (RTI) of a sprinkler bulb or a link. A total of 12 tests were carried out with varying longitudinal velocities (0.8–1.7 m/s), sprinkler activation temperatures (68–141 °C), water densities (2.9–8.7 mm/min) and types of arrangement of the fuel. The activation times, number of activated sprinklers, maximum heat release rates and other key parameters are presented and analyzed. The results show that the water density plays a key role in the performance of the automatic sprinkler systems tested. A high tunnel ventilation velocity, low water density and low sprinkler activation temperature are not recommended. © 2022 The Authors

Ämnesord

TEKNIK OCH TEKNOLOGIER  -- Maskinteknik (hsv//swe)

ENGINEERING AND TECHNOLOGY  -- Mechanical Engineering (hsv//eng)

Nyckelord

Activation

Automatic sprinkler

Model scale

Tunnel fire

Tunnel velocity

Chemical activation

Fires

Flammability testing

Sprinkler systems (irrigation)

Thermocouples

Activation temperatures

Fire tests

Performance

Road tunnel

Sprinkler activation

Tunnel fires

Water density

Hose

Publikations- och innehållstyp

ref (ämneskategori)

art (ämneskategori)