The Influence of Tunnel Ventilation on Fire Behavior

The previous two papers of this book have discussed what is currently possible with tunnel ventilation systems and the use of ventilation to control smoke. However, there is a downside when using ventilation to control smoke: the ventilation may also enhance the burning rate of the fire, which would be expected to have implications for life safety and fire fighting. It would also be expected to pose more of a threat to the integrity of the tunnel structure as well as increase the risk of spread. In addition, forced ventilation may cause significant flame detection and increase the probability of spread through closer proximity of flame and smoke to a second object.