 Home |
 Daily
News |
| Newsletter |
|
Science |
|
Cosmic
Click |
| Zeitgeist |
| Framed |
| Link
the Press |
|
Comic |
| Gallery |
| Archive |
|
Guestbook |
|
Who
we are |
|
Mail |
|
October 19, 2000 Tunnel Ventilators Fan Deadly Fires |
|
British researchers have pointed out that ventilators intended
to remove smoke during tunnel fires may in fact intensify the
danger. Using mathematical models, they calculated the
ventilators' effect on fires in train and roadway tunnels. Their
results indicate that ventilators may magnify infernos by a
factor of six to seven. The researchers say that the primary danger lies in the fact that fires develop very differently depending on the material being burned. Thus, burning wool calls for a different reaction that, say, burning oil or burning fuel. Tunnel staff should only turn on the fans when they know for sure what material caught fire. The researchers are now developing special computer programs that would control the fans appropriately, depending on the cause of the fire. |
|
| Source:
Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council, Oct 17, 00 Research: Dr Alan Beard, Department of Civil and Offshore Engineering, Heriot-Watt University |
|
|
|
