AQUASYS Tunnel Fire Fighting System

Supplied by AQUASYS Technik.

AQUASYS – LEADER IN TUNNEL SAFETY

AQUASYS water mist fire fighting system

AQUASYS Technik GmbH, located in Linz/Austria has developed and designed an effective water mist system for efficient fire fighting in tunnels. Upon detection of a fire in the tunnel, water mist is produced in the affected section of the tunnel. The small water droplets evaporate which leads to an enormous cooling effect. Additionally, the water mist acts like a countless number of reflectors which drastically minimize heat flux radiation. Because of using pure water, the water fog is harm-less for human beings and the environment and therefore can be operated during the evacuation procedures of the tunnel.

Objective

The requirements for any safety equipment in tunnels are:
• Preventing the fire from spreading to other vehicles
• Enabling the fire brigade to access the scene of the fire
• Protection of the tunnel structure

The AQUASYS system completely fulfills these requirements, which has been demonstrated in several full scale fire tests under observation of notified and independent institutes for fire protec-tion and safety. This fulfillment and further advantages of the AQUASYS system are manifested in several fire test reports.

First tunnels with water mist fire fighting system

The first road tunnel with an AQUASYS water fog system is the Mona Lisa Tunnel (length: 800 m), a connection to the largest industrial area of Austria. This urban road tunnel is a two lane tunnel and is operated with bi-directional traffic. The installation of the water mist system took place al-ready in the year 2004.

Since 2007, the Felbertauerntunnel (length: 5300 m) representing an important north-south con-nection through the Alps is equipped with the AQUASYS water fog system. This also bi- directional operated tunnel is constructed with an intermediate ceiling above the traffic lanes to accommodate an exhaust and a fresh air duct. The fresh air duct is also used as an escape route in case of an incident. In this case, the AQUASYS water mist fire fighting system was also chosen because of its highly efficient protection of the tunnel structure.  

Felbertauerntunnel, Austria

                                                                        

Roertunnel, Netherlands
 
                                                                                 
 
In the Netherlands, one of the leading nations regarding tunnel safety, recently two new road tun-nels have been equipped with an AQUASYS water mist fire fighting system. Both, the Roertunnel (length: 2000 m) and the tunnel Swalmen (length: 400 m) are designed with two bores, two lanes each, operated with unidirectional traffic. For these tunnels, apart from the protection of individuals, a high attention is paid to the protection of the building structure itself. By proportioned admixture of aqueous foam forming additives (AFFA) to the fire water, high effectiveness of the water mist system even in accidents with combustible liquids is ensured.  

Tunnel Swalmen, Netherlands

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