Evaluation test of applicability of Compressed Air Foam fire extinguishing system for train fire at rescue station in Subsea tunnel

Recently, a mega project such as Korea-China or Korea-Japan undersea tunnel project has been emerged for detail discussion and the interest in undersea tunnel is on the rise. More severe damage by train fire is expected in undersea tunnel comparing to ground tunnel and thus the study on more efficient fire extinguishing system, besides existing disaster prevention design is underway. To that end, a full-scale fire tests using CAF fire extinguishing system which has been developed by modifying traditional foam fire extinguishing system for fire suppression at rescue station in timely manner were conducted over 7 times. The test was conducted after setting the rescue station in virtual tunnel with a car of KTX. As a result of using compressed air foam directly to the fire source, 30 liter of Heptane combustibles was extinguished within 1 minutes. Applicability of compressed air foam to train fire at rescue station in undersea tunnel was has been proven and further study is considered required while changing the nozzle angle and location so as to achieve quick and easy extinguishing goal, making use of the advantage of CAF, as well as to reduce the fire water and chemicals required.