Tracer gas experiments in subways using an integrated measuring and analysis system for sulfur hexafluoride

Several sulfur hexafluoride (SF6) tracer gas experiments were conducted in a subway system to measure the possible pathways of toxic gas for subway tunnels and stations empirically. A new mobile integrated measuring and analysis system was used to achieve high sample rates and a long measurement tim...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inJournal of sensors and sensor systems Vol. 5; no. 1; pp. 33 - 38
Main Authors Brüne, M, Spiegel, J, Potje-Kamloth, K, Stein, C, Pflitsch, A
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published Gottingen Copernicus GmbH 05.02.2016
Copernicus Publications
Subjects
Experiments
Measurement
Public transportation
Railroad tunnels
Sensors
Subway stations
Subway tunnels
Subways
Sulfur
Sulfur hexafluoride
Terrorism
Tracer gas
Tracers (Biology)
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Summary:Several sulfur hexafluoride (SF6) tracer gas experiments were conducted in a subway system to measure the possible pathways of toxic gas for subway tunnels and stations empirically. A new mobile integrated measuring and analysis system was used to achieve high sample rates and a long measurement time. Due to the mobility of the sensors, tracer gas experiments were also carried out inside running subway coaches. All experiments showed a common pattern: the pathways of tracer gas dispersion overlapped with some escape routes, which were contaminated within a few minutes. So in case of catastrophic circumstances like terrorist attacks or subway fires, some escape routes will become deathly traps, but the results also showed free escape routes. With the new sensor technique it will be possible to conduct safety assessments for escape routes in underground transportation facilities.
ISSN:2194-878X
2194-8771
2194-878X
DOI:10.5194/jsss-5-33-2016