Fires Safety of Underground Trains - Assignment Example

As we appreciate cutting-edge technological advancement, technical simulation methods applied around engineering have vastly seen underground train fire cases drop significantly over decades. Concerned with the effectiveness of fire prevention systems, however, there has been a need to improve fire simulation systems to aid in the process of risk analysis and design of underground railway systems.

Mass transport by train is an appreciated phenomenon as a large number of people is transported at the same time. However, admittedly, the passengers on board are usually at high risk as they are exposed to the risks of train fires, which result from the combination and combustion of gaseous and liquid components in specific proportions. Therefore, engineers need to dig deeper and in a technical capacity to analyze and determine risk factors exposing passengers to train fire hazards. Train fire, smoke plume temperature, concentration and spatial distribution of velocity, impact characteristics, and flow patterns remain to be significant factors in effective passenger safety measures.

Trains operate in a manner that the ultimate product of its mechanical operation is heat resulting from the combustions of basic chemical components. The release of smoke and the direction together with the combining factors of the chemical components are part and parcel of the risk analysis process in train fires. Heat release by underground trains has emerged as a crucial area of consideration owing to the underlying phenomena of instigation and growth of train fire. On the same note, the concept of Heat Release Rate (HRR) has been considered a crucial indicator of fire performance and fire behavior of burning materials.

This concept of heat release rate and other valuable data obtained from other measurement tools can be used in the process of fire risk analysis and facilitation of effective fire modeling and hazard analysis techniques. Moreover, they are used to evaluate various design parameters and enhance system interactions in a more cost-saving manner. What needs to be understood equally, is that there is an array of fire scenarios that are distinct in terms of the source of fire, the flow of smoke, temperature, plume concentration, fire behavior, and time fire velocity.

Even as researchers try to incorporate the above-mentioned factors (smoke plume, temperature, concentration, and spatial distribution of velocity and flow patterns) in simulated fire scenarios to aid in the prevention and evacuation of passengers in an effective manner, the safety of passengers in underground trains is still a developing area as what deems to be effective passenger safety measures is not absolute. We, therefore, review scholarly articles to provide evidence-based facts and comprehensive analysis of the fire safety of railways tunnels.