Description
The paper refers to a recent project of an important metro line in Middle East. In this project, the stations are provided with smoke extraction systems designed to deal with both the train fire scenario and bin or luggage fire. During the commissioning phase, testing is required to check the effectiveness of the station emergency ventilation system, to guarantee an environment free of smoke close to the refuge areas.
The 2 stations consist of a platform level and 1 or more mezzanine levels, all above ground. Station trackways are separated from the station buildings by means of PSDs (Platform Screen Doors).
The present paper discusses the technical and scientific issues related to the execution of the cold smoke tests, with particular reference to the methodology and the equipment used. This includes the set-up of tests (theoretical basis), the preparatory phase on-site to calibrate the smoke and thermal source used as smoke thermal lift, and the cold flow simulations performed using the CFD models prepared at the design stage with the same conditions of the tests. A part of the paper analyses references and the limits of the experimental tests (buoyancy, the role of the active fire protection system, etc.).
The paper examines the tests results and compares them with the results of the cold flow simulations.
The aim of the paper is to share the strengths of this approach to verifying the entire behaviour of the safety system and the consistency of the experimental results with the CFD ones.