Smoke movement characteristics and fire safety in subway stations

Experimental and numerical studies on smoke movement and control in subway stations are presented. The experiments were conducted in three actual stations in service using small methanol pool fires as the fuel to generate data basis to validate and tune numerical models for subway station fires and furthermore to examine the performance of smoke control systems. A control volume smoke movement model has been applied to the stations. The model was first tuned to reproduce the test results for the simplest condition for each station, and was then applied and compared with test results for other test conditions. The model was finally applied to predict smoke movement in the subway stations of more plausible fires. The effective design and functional operation of fire safety measures in subway systems are discussed. Primarily, importance of restriction of heat release rate through either the control of combustibility of lining materials or installation of sprinkler system is pointed out. And it is clarified that arrangement of alternative evacuation routes on either ends of the platform, and appropriate operation of shutters in stairways between the platform and the concourse ensure safe evacuation.