Experimental and numerical analysis of secondary disasters induced by oxygen rich combustion within a tunnel

Various physical parameters, including gas concentrations (O2, CO, CH4, and H2) and temperatures at different air velocities, were determined for full scale wood fires in the Chongqing Coal Research Institute fire test tunnel. Both experimental measurements and numerical simulations are discussed. The numerical analysis was performed with the computational fluid dynamics software package “FLUENT”. The results show that the experimental data agree with the simulation results. The results verify that Roberts’ theory of burning is correct. They also prove that the air velocity is the key factor that determines the type of combustion. Also, it is shown that secondary disasters are unlikely for oxygen rich combustion with a limited fire load.