Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

An exploratory study on road tunnel with semi-transparent photovoltaic canopy—From energy saving and fire safety perspectives

  • Research Article
  • Advances in Modeling and Simulation Tools
  • Published:
Building Simulation Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Road tunnels consume a large amount of energy, especially in the Canadian cold climate, where the roads are heated electrically or deicing during the winter. For a more sustainable and resilient road tunnel energy system, we conducted an exploratory study on installing a semi-transparent photovoltaic (STPV) canopy at the entrances and exits of a tunnel under a river. The proposed system generates solar-powered electricity, improves thermal and visual conditions, and reduces energy loads. In this study, field measurements of road surface temperature and air temperature were conducted, and numerical simulations with and without STPV were performed to study air and road surface temperatures under different traffic speeds. The field measurements show the road surface temperatures are higher than the air temperature on average. The interior air and road surface temperature were measured to be above 0 °C, even though the outdoor temperature is far below 0 °C, thus significantly reducing the need for deicing in winter using salts. The simulations show that the air and surface temperatures elevate due to the solar transmission heat through the STPV canopy, thus reducing deicing energy consumption significantly. The fire safety analysis also showed that the proposed system’s top opening should be located near the tunnel entrance instead of the canopy entrance for better smoke exhaust during a fire.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • ANSYS (2012a). ANSYS ICEM CFD Tutorial Manual. Canonsburg, PA, USA: ANSYS Inc.

    Google Scholar 

  • ANSYS (2012b). DesignModeler User’s Guide. ANSYS Workbench 15.0 (Vol. 15317). Canonsburg, PA, USA: ANSYS Inc.

    Google Scholar 

  • ANSYS (2015). ANSYS FLUENT User’s Guide-Release 16. Canonsburg, PA, USA: ANSYS Inc.

    Google Scholar 

  • ARUP (2011). Guidelines on Fire Engineering-Section 6: Design by fire engineering. Available at https://www.bd.gov.hk/doc/en/resources/codes-and-references/code-and-design-manuals/fs2011/partG2.pdf

  • Athienitis AK (2013). Thermal Analysis and Design of Passive Solar Buildings. London, UK: Routledge.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Cábová K, Apeltauer J, Wald F (2016). Verification and validation of a numerical model of fire and smoke development in a railway tunnel. Acta Polytechnica, 56: 432–439.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Cao S, Deng H, Zhou X, et al. (2019). Ventilation inlets design based on ventilation performance assessment using a dimensionless time scale. Indoor and Built Environment, 28: 1049–1063.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Chen TY, Lee YT, Hsu CC (1998). Investigations of piston-effect and jet fan-effect in model vehicle tunnels. Journal of Wind Engineering and Industrial Aerodynamics, 73: 99–110.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Cheng J, Qi D, Katal A, et al. (2018). Evaluating wind-driven natural ventilation potential for early building design. Journal of Wind Engineering and Industrial Aerodynamics, 182: 160–169.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Daghigh R, Ruslan M, Sopian K (2011). Effect of packing factor on the performance of PV/T water heater. In: Proceedings of the International Conference on ENERGY & ENVIRONMENT, Cambridge, UK. Available at http://pkukmweb.ukm.my/~SERI/

  • Dzhusupova R (2012). Zero Energy Tunnel-Concept. Information and Communication Technology (ICT).

  • Fan CG, Ji J, Gao ZH, et al. (2013). Experimental study of air entrainment mode with natural ventilation using shafts in road tunnel fires. International Journal of Heat and Mass Transfer, 56: 750–757.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Fujimoto A, Tokunaga RA, Kiriishi M, et al. (2014). A road surface freezing model using heat, water and salt balance and its validation by field experiments. Cold Regions Science and Technology, 106–107: 1–10.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gao Z, Ji J, Wan H, et al. (2015). An investigation of the detailed flame shape and flame length under the ceiling of a channel. Proceedings of the Combustion Institute, 35: 2657–2664.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Guo C, Wang M, Yang L, et al. (2016). A review of energy consumption and saving in extra-long tunnel operation ventilation in China. Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, 53: 1558–1569.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hurley M, Gottuk D, HallJr J, et al. (2015). SFPE Handbook of Fire Protection Engineering. New York: Springer.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ji J, Gao ZH, Fan CG, et al. (2012). A study of the effect of plug-holing and boundary layer separation on natural ventilation with vertical shaft in urban road tunnel fires. International Journal of Heat and Mass Transfer, 55: 6032–6041.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ji J, Gao ZH, Fan CG, et al. (2013). Large Eddy Simulation of stack effect on natural smoke exhausting effect in urban road tunnel fires. International Journal of Heat and Mass Transfer, 66: 531–542.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ji J, Wan H, Li K, et al. (2015). A numerical study on upstream maximum temperature in inclined urban road tunnel fires. International Journal of Heat and Mass Transfer, 88: 516–526.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Jiang H, Cen Y, Zha X, et al. (2018). Current situation and development trend of solar pavement technology. In: Proceedings of the 2nd International Conference on Energy and Power Engineering, Chengdu, China.

  • Jun K, Hwang Y, Yune C (2017). Field measurement of temperature inside tunnel in winter in Gangwon, Korea. Cold Regions Science and Technology, 143: 32–42.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kapsis K, Athienitis AK (2015). A study of the potential benefits of semi-transparent photovoltaics in commercial buildings. Solar Energy, 115: 120–132.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kapsis K (2016). Modelling, design and experimental study of semitransparent photovoltaic windows for commercial building applications. PhD Thesis, Concordia University, Canada.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kashef A, Bénichou N, Lougheed GD, et al. (2004). Computational fluid dynamics simulations of in-situ fire tests in road tunnels. In: Proceedings of the 5 th International Conference-Tunnels Fires, London, UK.

  • Markolf SA, Hoehne C, Fraser A, et al. (2019). Transportation resilience to climate change and extreme weather events—Beyond risk and robustness. Transport Policy, 74: 174–186.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • McGrattan KB, Baum HR, Rehm RG, et al. (2002). Fire Dynamics Simulator (Version 3)—Technical Reference.

  • McGrattan KB, McDermott R, Weinschenk C, et al. (2013). Fire Dynamics Simulator User’s Guide. Gaithersburg, MD, USA: National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST).

    Google Scholar 

  • Peeling J, Wayman M, Mocanu I, et al. (2016). Energy efficient tunnel solutions. Transportation Research Procedia, 14: 1472–1481.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • NFPA (2012). NFPA 101. Life Safety Code, 2012 ed. Quincy, MA, USA: National Fire Protection Association (NFPA).

    Google Scholar 

  • NFPA (2020). NFPA 801. Fire Protection for Facilities for Handling Radioactive Materials. Quincy, MA, USA: National Fire Protection Association (NFPA).

    Google Scholar 

  • Rounis ED, Athienitis AK, Stathopoulos T (2016). Multiple-inlet building integrated photovoltaic/thermal system modelling under varying wind and temperature conditions. Solar Energy, 139: 157–170.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Salata F, Golasi I, Bombelli E, et al. (2015). Case study on economic return on investments for safety and emergency lighting in road tunnels. Sustainability, 7: 9809–9822.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sun D, Athienitis A, D’Avignon K (2019). Application of semitransparent photovoltaics in transportation infrastructure for energy savings and solar electricity production: Toward novel net-zero energy tunnel design. Progress in Photovoltaics: Research and Applications, 27: 1034–1044.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Tan T, Yu L, Ding L, et al. (2021). Numerical investigation on the effect of ambient pressure on mechanical smoke extraction efficiency in tunnel fires. Fire Safety Journal, 120: 103136.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Zhong W, Fan CG, Ji J, et al. (2013). Influence of longitudinal wind on natural ventilation with vertical shaft in a road tunnel fire. International Journal of Heat and Mass Transfer, 57: 671–678.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Zhou Y, Deng Y, Wu P, et al. (2017). The effects of ventilation and floor heating systems on the dispersion and deposition of fine particles in an enclosed environment. Building and Environment, 125: 192–205.

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgements

This research project was supported by the Ministry of Transport of Québec and the NSERC Discovery Grants [#RGPIN-2018-06734] from Canada’s Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council. Dr. Jiwu Rao, Mr. Hatem Alrawashdeh, and Mr. Bruno Marcotte from the research team at Concordia University’s Centre for Zero Energy Building Studies (CZEBS) were involved in the field measurement of the ventilation flow in the tunnel.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Civil and Building Engineering, Université de Sherbrooke, 2500, boul. de l’Université, Sherbrooke, Québec, J1K 2R1, Canada

    Dahai Qi & Xin Zhang

  2. Centre for Zero Energy Building Studies, Department of Building, Civil and Environmental Engineering, Concordia University, 1455 de Maisonneuve Blvd. West, Montreal, Quebec, H3G 1M8, Canada

    Senwen Yang, Chang Shu, Liangzhu Leon Wang & Andreas Athienitis

Authors
  1. Dahai Qi
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Senwen Yang
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Chang Shu
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. Xin Zhang
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  5. Liangzhu Leon Wang
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  6. Andreas Athienitis
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Liangzhu Leon Wang.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Qi, D., Yang, S., Shu, C. et al. An exploratory study on road tunnel with semi-transparent photovoltaic canopy—From energy saving and fire safety perspectives. Build. Simul. 15, 537–548 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12273-021-0831-6

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Revised:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12273-021-0831-6

Keywords

Search

Navigation