Energy consumption and dilution of toxic gases in underground infrastructures: A case study in a railway tunnel under forced ventilation

Javier Menéndez, Mariano Sanabria, Jesús Manuel Fernández-Oro, Mónica Galdo-Vega, Laura Álvarez de Prado and Antonio Bernardo-Sánchez

Energy, 2024, vol. 307, issue C

Abstract: Toxic fumes are released after blasting in underground excavations. The analysis of safe re-entry times into the work areas is essential for addressing safety and productivity concerns. In this paper, a railway tunnel 2.1 km long under forced ventilation system is selected as a case study to assess the energy consumption and re-entry times after blasting under different ventilation conditions. First, three-dimensional CFD numerical models were conducted in order to predict the migration time to reduce the levels of noxious gases below the limits established in safety regulations. Field measurements were conducted to verify the accuracy of the results obtained in the simulations. Then, additional analytical models were conducted to evaluate the energy consumed by the ventilation system. The results obtained show that the accumulated re-entry time reaches 414 h for the excavation of the tunnel employing an airflow rate of 40 m3 s−1. This time increases by 33 % when the airflow rate decreases to 30 m3 s−1. However, even though the time decreases when the ventilation volume increases, energy consumption increases significantly, reaching 1,306 MWh for a ventilation volume of 40 m3 s−1 compared to 551 MWh using an airflow of 30 m3 s−1.

Keywords: Forced ventilation; Tunneling; Toxic gases; Blasting; Re-entry times; Energy consumption; Ventilation ducts (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2024
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0360544224025842
Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:energy:v:307:y:2024:i:c:s0360544224025842

DOI: 10.1016/j.energy.2024.132810

Access Statistics for this article

Energy is currently edited by Henrik Lund and Mark J. Kaiser

More articles in Energy from Elsevier
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Catherine Liu ().