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Hi-tech ventilation to make tunnels safe
It seems that the Chennai Metro Rail Limited (CMRL) is undertaking extra care to handle emergencies while the metros run.
By
migrator
migrator
Chennai
A state-of-art ventilation system has been installed in each station, mainly to deal with fire accidents in the tunnels. Each station has been equipped with eight fans, including four giant fans meant exclusively to suck out smoke from the tunnel through a ventilation shaft. When the fastest of smoke extraction fan is in operation, a demo of which was shown on Friday morning at Thirumangalam tunnel, as much as 120 cubic meters of smoke (air) per second would be sucked out.
A pair of giant fans installed at both ends of each station has been designed to blow or suck the smoke, whichever would best suit the evacuation of passengers during emergencies. This apart, four small fans (two each on the floor and one on the ceiling) have also been fixed at platform level to mechanically suck heat out of the stations.
“The train is like a moving electric coil. It will produce a lot of heat, so the fans have to be in operation regularly to reduce the heat and maintain the temperature on the platforms and concourse level,” J Hari Prasad, joint general manager, tunnel ventilation system, CMRL, explained.
Sensors have been fixed for the entire length of the tunnel to detect smoke, heat, visibility and fire, which would be monitored and controlled from the OCC (operational control center) at metro headquarters in Koyambedu. CMRL officials in the know of things estimate that their response time to smoke or fire would be 18 seconds and the time consumed to suck out smoke from the tunnel would be 3 minutes on an average.
Free parking for bicycles
To reduce its carbon footprint, CMRL has also proposed to offer free parking space to bicycles and electricity operated vehicles. Be it car or bike, any vehicle run on electricity would be provided free parking at metro stations.
MRTS integration with CMRL
In a year, CMRL would have a blue print for integrating MRTS, currently run by southern railway, with it. A senior CMRL official said they have just awarded the work to a consultant who would submit a report in a year. “It is an issue involving two government agencies, union railway ministry and state government. So, the process would take time,” the officer added.
FAN CAPACITY
- Fan speed 900–1400 rpm.
- Fans of 3 variants can suck out 45, 80 and 125 cubic metres of smoke per second
- The giant smoke suction fans generate noise up to 110-130 decibels, against the 55decible prescribed by TN Pollution Control Board.
- A pair of silencers has been fixed to each smoke fan to reduce the noise level in the neighbourhood.
- Platform screen doors reduce energy bill by 60%
- Another key safety feature of the underground network would be Platform Screen Doors (PSD), which apart from restricting entry in to the tunnel also reduced the energy consumption. CMRL believes that PSDs, which contain air conditioning loss in to tunnels, would reduce their power bill by 60%
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