Estimation of number of fatalities caused by toxic gases due to fire in road tunnels

Qu, X; Meng, Q; Liu, Z

Estimation of number of fatalities caused by toxic gases due to fire in road tunnels

Qu, X

Meng, Q Liu, Z

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Publication Type:: Journal Article
Citation:: Accident Analysis and Prevention, 2013, 50 pp. 616 - 621
Issue Date:: 2013-01-01

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Field	Value	Language
dc.contributor.author	Qu, X https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0973-3756	en_US
dc.contributor.author	Meng, Q	en_US
dc.contributor.author	Liu, Z	en_US
dc.date.available	2012-06-10	en_US
dc.date.issued	2013-01-01	en_US
dc.identifier.citation	Accident Analysis and Prevention, 2013, 50 pp. 616 - 621	en_US
dc.identifier.issn	0001-4575	en_US
dc.identifier.uri	http://hdl.handle.net/10453/117102
dc.description.abstract	The quantitative risk assessment (QRA) is one of the explicit requirements under the European Union (EU) Directive (2004/54/EC). As part of this, it is essential to be able to estimate the number of fatalities in different accident scenarios. In this paper, a tangible methodology is developed to estimate the number of fatalities caused by toxic gases due to fire in road tunnels by incorporating traffic flow and the spread of fire in tunnels. First, a deterministic queuing model is proposed to calculate the number of people at risk, by taking into account tunnel geometry, traffic flow patterns, and incident response plans for road tunnels. Second, the Fire Dynamics Simulator (FDS) is used to obtain the temperature and concentrations of CO, CO 2, and O2. By taking advantage of the additivity of the fractional effective dose (FED) method, fatality rates for different locations in given time periods can be estimated. An illustrative case study is carried out to demonstrate the applicability of the proposed methodology. © 2012 Elsevier Ltd.	en_US
dc.relation.ispartof	Accident Analysis and Prevention	en_US
dc.relation.isbasedon	10.1016/j.aap.2012.06.010	en_US
dc.subject.classification	Logistics & Transportation	en_US
dc.subject.mesh	Humans	en_US
dc.subject.mesh	Gases	en_US
dc.subject.mesh	Risk Assessment	en_US
dc.subject.mesh	Risk Factors	en_US
dc.subject.mesh	Fires	en_US
dc.subject.mesh	Environment Design	en_US
dc.subject.mesh	Accidents, Traffic	en_US
dc.subject.mesh	Inhalation Exposure	en_US
dc.subject.mesh	Singapore	en_US
dc.title	Estimation of number of fatalities caused by toxic gases due to fire in road tunnels	en_US
dc.type	Journal Article
utslib.citation.volume	50	en_US
utslib.for	1117 Public Health and Health Services	en_US
utslib.for	1507 Transportation and Freight Services	en_US
utslib.for	1701 Psychology	en_US
pubs.embargo.period	Not known	en_US
pubs.organisational-group	/University of Technology Sydney
pubs.organisational-group	/University of Technology Sydney/Faculty of Engineering and Information Technology
pubs.organisational-group	/University of Technology Sydney/Faculty of Engineering and Information Technology/School of Civil and Environmental Engineering
pubs.organisational-group	/University of Technology Sydney/Strength - CBI - Centre for Built Infrastructure
pubs.organisational-group	/University of Technology Sydney/Strength - CRIN - Realtime Information Networks
utslib.copyright.status	closed_access
pubs.publication-status	Published	en_US
pubs.volume	50	en_US

Abstract:

The quantitative risk assessment (QRA) is one of the explicit requirements under the European Union (EU) Directive (2004/54/EC). As part of this, it is essential to be able to estimate the number of fatalities in different accident scenarios. In this paper, a tangible methodology is developed to estimate the number of fatalities caused by toxic gases due to fire in road tunnels by incorporating traffic flow and the spread of fire in tunnels. First, a deterministic queuing model is proposed to calculate the number of people at risk, by taking into account tunnel geometry, traffic flow patterns, and incident response plans for road tunnels. Second, the Fire Dynamics Simulator (FDS) is used to obtain the temperature and concentrations of CO, CO 2, and O2. By taking advantage of the additivity of the fractional effective dose (FED) method, fatality rates for different locations in given time periods can be estimated. An illustrative case study is carried out to demonstrate the applicability of the proposed methodology. © 2012 Elsevier Ltd.

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http://hdl.handle.net/10453/117102