Effects of Fire Compartmentation and Smoke Exhaust Measures on Smoke Spread Caused by Cable Fire in Utility Tunnel

Investigating the behavior of fire smoke in utility tunnel as well as smoke prevention and control measures are of vital significance for exhausting smoke from utility tunnel, realizing efficient firefighting and rescue, and guaranteeing the normal operation of cities. Taking utility tunnel as the research background, this paper builds a simulation calculation model for fire smoke prevention and control in the utility tunnel using PyroSim numerical simulation software and explores the rules of smoke spread under conditions such as building ceiling screen, changing fire compartmentation tightness, and adding smoke exhaust facilities. According to study results, before the tunnel was filled with smoke, ceiling screens lowered smoke spread rate, and smoke spread rate was inversely proportional to the ceiling screen height. When the fire door was opened, fire smoke spread to the adjacent fire compartment, and smoke spread rate was directly proportional to the fire door opening angle. Before the tunnel was filled up, mechanical smoke exhaust facilities significantly lowered the smoke spread rate by as much as 50%. When the entire tunnel was full of smoke, mechanical smoke exhaust facilities significantly reduced the smoke concentration in the utility tunnel; smoke layer temperature dropped by as much as 32°C, while visibility improved by as much as 66%. By studying smoke spread in utility tunnel, this paper aims to determine the optimal measures of preventing and controlling smoke spread in utility tunnel. This paper could also offer some reference for practical engineering applications in smoke prevention and control in utility tunnel.