Increasing Tunnel Safety with High Performance Fire Detection

Introduction

Fire detection in a tunnel is critical in preventing catastrophic damage to infrastructure, injury, death, and severe economic consequences. Therefore, it is essential to detect fires and their locations as soon as they break out. Additionally, detection systems have to be able to work in harsh conditions of dirt, smog, corrosion, and high humidity. The capability to monitor a fire’s vector is also needed for effective firefighting action. Those capabilities ensure safety and the optimal fire mitigation in a tunnel. The DTSX is an optical fiber distributed temperature monitoring solution from Yokogawa that is able to accurately measure and locate any occurrence of damaging heat over the length of the fiber (up to 50 km). With a minimum sampling resolution of 1 m or less, it monitors with no blind spots along the tunnel while giving near real-time information. The DTSX is a reliable and robust tool for fire detection over long distances and large areas. Among DTSX, DTSX1 Fiber Optic Heat Detector, which has the functions for fire detection in one box and is certified by EN 54-22 certified, is a suitable solution.

No Redundancy

Cable Redundancy

Full Redundancy

Customer’s Benefits

• Monitors tunnel safety in real-time, year after year.
• Identifies heat build-up in 1 m increments within seconds, identifying the exact location and vector of fires for effective countermeasures.
• Mitigates risk while keeping running costs down.

System Configuration

Solution & Benefits

• Tunnel safety monitoring 24 hours a day, 365 days a year.

  The DTSX system acquires temperature from a fiber optic cable installed along the tunnel length within seconds. Its robust and compact industrial design allows it to monitor in harsh conditions with no blind spots. Since only one DTSX and its software application is needed to cover a tunnel length of up to 50 km, you can centralize the monitoring of the entire tunnel. In addition, one DTSX can monitor several fiber optic cables. Therefore, a variety of semi-redundant and completely redundant solutions can be offered.

• Identifies trouble spots in 1 m increments which gives you the opportunity to pinpoint the exact fire position within seconds.

  For tunnel safety it is essential not only to detect the outbreak of a fire, but also to pinpoint its exact location. Detection and locating have to be done quickly to minimize danger, and at the same time the system must provide critical information to emergency personnel such as the rate and direction of fire build-up. This blind spot-free detection capability cannot be achieved by using discrete sensors or IR cameras.

• Mitigating risk while keeping running costs down.

  The optical fiber cable installation along the tunnel requires no power, except for the DTSX unit which is usually installed in a control room. Also, the cable requires almost no maintenance, and can detect any damage to itself. Thus, the DTSX system increases tunnel safety and minimizes operational costs.

 

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