Heat Transfer in Underground Rail Tunnels

Department of Mathematics, Imperial College London, London SW7 2AZ, UnitedKingdomAbstractThe transfer of heat between the air and surrounding soil in underground tunnels insinvestigated, as part of the analysis of environmental conditions in underground railsystems. Using standard turbulent modelling assumptions, ow pro les are obtainedin both open tunnels and in the annulus between a tunnel wall and a moving train,from which the heat transfer coecient between the air and tunnel wall is computed.The radial conduction of heat through the surrounding soil resulting from changesin the temperature of air in the tunnel are determined. An impulse change andan oscillating tunnel air temperature are considered separately. The correlationsbetween uctuations in heat transfer coecient and air temperature are found toincrease the mean soil temperature. Finally, a model for the coupled evolution ofthe air and surrounding soil temperature along a tunnel of nite length is given.Key words: tunnel ventilation, heat conduction