Description
A wholistic new method to calculate the critical velocity for the tunnel ventilation industry, and others, is presented. It considers the fundamental laws of physics described in the conservation of mass, momentum, energy, and combustion, including the effect radiation, flame temperature, and combustible properties have on the solution. Although relatively simple, it is robust enough to capture all relevant parameters to calculate the minimum velocity that is required to control the backlayer of smoke in the event of a tunnel fire. This paper expands upon the new one-dimensional critical velocity presented in reference [10] demonstrating applications, including calculation of the effect of the convective and radiative (no longer constant, but calculated) fire heat release rate, the fuel properties, and various tunnel configurations.
