Evaluation of fire smoke control in underground space

Abstract

The main goal of the fire management strategy is to avoid people interaction with fire hazards, therefore several studies are carried out for optimal escape route planning as well as smoke management and mechanical ventilation design. Underground spaces are a special case of study due to their technical characteristics that create different fire spread conditions compared to conventional buildings. In this paper, a comparative study on the fire smoke propagation is carried out taking into account the use and performance of smoke mitigation techniques. The Underground Hazardous Waste Management Repository of Lavrion Technological and Cultural Park in Greece, is selected as a case study to achieve the paper objectives. A Computer Fluid Dynamic software is used to simulate various fire scenarios based on the specific characteristics of the underground space. Parameters that have significant impact on evacuation procedure and human health such as visibility and carbon monoxide concentration are monitored. Finally, the results are presented and an evaluation method is proposed based on evacuation simulation results, in order to predict the impact of the smoke control design on the conditions inside the underground space. The results reveal that the ventilation shaft (passive system) offers an effective smoke control without any other combined control system and that the installation of smoke curtains, which are activated on time, offers significant improvement on smoke spread control extending the available egress time (ASET) in case of fire.