journal article·2024-12-11Open access

Comparative Study on Fire Resistance of Different Thermal Insulation Materials for Electric Vehicle Tunnel Fire

Xiaojun Li, Yuanwei Cheng

Applied Sciences· Volume 14· Issue 24

Abstract

With the growing prevalence of lithium battery electric vehicles, the incidence of fires resulting from thermal runaway in lithium batteries is also on the rise. In contrast to conventional fuel vehicle fires, fires involving lithium battery electric vehicles exhibit distinct differences in fire dynamics, fire loads, and smoke characteristics. These variations impose more stringent requirements on the design of passive fire protection systems within tunnels. To evaluate the fire resistance performance of existing passive fire protection systems under electric vehicle fire conditions, this study first used PyroSim software 2022 (integrating FDS 6.7.9) to establish fire models for combustion engine trucks and electric trucks, comparing the combustion characteristics of both types of fires without insulation lining materials. Based on the electric truck fire model, different insulation lining materials were added. The analysis of the simulation results focused on the impact of the thermal conductivity and emissivity of each lining material on peak tunnel temperatures, aiming to identify the insulation lining material with the best fire resistance performance. The results indicate that the heat release rate, temperature distribution, toxic gas concentration, and smoke propagation of lithium battery combustion engine truck fires are all higher than those of combustion engine truck fires. Among the five insulation lining materials studied, SiO2 gel material demonstrated superior fire resistance compared to the others. This research provides a scientific and rational basis for tunnel fire protection design and fire response strategies, aiming to mitigate the damage caused by lithium battery electric vehicle fires to tunnel lining structures.
Source: crossref · Quality: baseline

Research context

OpenAlex topics: Fire dynamics and safety research · Fire Detection and Safety Systems · Combustion and Detonation Processes

SciVX discovery tags are terminology-based. OpenAlex topics are source-provided classifications.

Affiliations

School of Safety Science and Engineering, Xi’an University of Science and Technology, Xi’an 710054, China

Shaanxi Anyite New Material Co., Ltd., Xi’an 712000, China

Funding

Shaanxi Province Special Funds for Technological In-novation · the Special Funds for Central Administration Guiding Local Science and Technology Development of Shaanxi Province · the Research Program of Shaanxi Anjian Investment Construction Co, Ltd. · Special Key Research Project of Integration of Industry and Innovation Chain of QINCHUANGYUAN Industrial Cluster Programme · 2024 Henan Province Key Research and Development Project · Shaanxi Provincial Department of Transportation 2023 Annual Traffic Science and Research Projects

References (36)

Show source-provided references
1. Fire tests with lithium-ion battery electric vehicles in road tunnels10.1016/j.firesaf.2022.103695 ↗
2. Cui, Y., Cong, B., Liu, J., Qiu, M., and Han, X. (2022). Characteristics and Hazards of Plug-In Hybrid Electric Vehicle Fires Caused by Lithium-Ion Battery Packs with Thermal Runaway. Front. Energy Res., 10.10.3389/fenrg.2022.878035 ↗
3. Design fire scenarios for hazard assessment of modern battery electric and internal combustion engine passenger vehicles10.1016/j.firesaf.2024.104145 ↗
4. Lecocq, A., Bertana, M., Truchot, B., and Marlair, G. (2012, January 27–28). Comparison of the fire consequences of an electric vehicle and an internal combustion engine vehicle. Proceedings of the 2nd International Conference on Fires in Vehicles-FIVE 2012, Chicago, IL, USA.
5. Watanabe, N., Sugawa, O., Suwa, T., Ogawa, Y., Hiramatsu, M., Tomonori, H., Miyamoto, H., Okamoto, K., and Honma, M. (2012, January 27–28). Comparison of fire behaviors of an electric-battery-powered vehicle and gasoline-powered vehicle in a real-scale fire test. Proceedings of the 2nd International Conference on Fires in Vehicles-FIVE, Chicago, IL, USA.
6. Willstrand, O., Bisschop, R., Blomqvist, P., Temple, A., and Anderson, J. (2020). Toxic Gases from Fire in Electric Vehicles, Digitala Vetenskapliga Arkivet.
7. Analysis of combustion gases from large-scale electric vehicle fire tests10.1016/j.firesaf.2023.103829 ↗
8. A critical review of lithium-ion battery safety testing and standards10.1016/j.applthermaleng.2023.121014 ↗
9. MacNeil, D.D., Lougheed, G., Lam, C., Carbonneau, G., Kroeker, R., Edwards, D., Tompkins, J., and Lalime, G. (2015, January 1–5). Electric vehicle fire testing. Proceedings of the 8th EVS-GTR Meeting, Washington, DC, USA.
10. Boe, A.S. (2019, October 20). Full Scale Electric Vehicle Fire Test, Fire Product Search. Available online: https://www.fireproductsearch.com/full-scale-electric-vehicle-fire-test/.
11. Study on fire characteristics of lithium battery of new energy vehicles in a tunnel10.1016/j.psep.2024.04.028 ↗
12. Numerical simulation analysis of combustion of electric sport utility vehicles
13. Full-scale fire testing of battery electric vehicles10.1016/j.apenergy.2022.120497 ↗
14. Discussion on fire characteristics and heat release rate of blade electric vehicles
15. Ren, C., and Zhang, G. (2018, January 6–8). Analysis of Growth and Spreading of Fire Started from Engine Compartment of Large Bus. Proceedings of the 2018 International Conference on Information Systems and Computer Aided Education (ICISCAE), Changchun, China.
16. Fire resistant behavior of newly developed bottom-ash-based cementitious coating applied concrete tunnel lining under RABT fire loading10.1016/j.conbuildmat.2010.04.001 ↗
17. Potassium based geopolymer for passive fire protection of concrete tunnels linings10.1016/j.tust.2014.05.003 ↗
18. An experimental evaluation to determine the required thickness of passive fire protection layer for high strength concrete tunnel segments10.1016/j.conbuildmat.2015.07.130 ↗
19. Zhao, Numerical simulation study on fire of lithium-ion battery pack in electric vehicle, Chinese
20. Development and application of thermal insulation material for underground roadway with high ground temperature
21. Thermo-elastic analysis of the temperature and stress fields of tunnels with insulation layer in a high geothermal environment
22. Characterization and assessment of fire evolution process of electric vehicles placed in parallel10.1016/j.psep.2022.08.055 ↗
23. Application of RANS and LES field simulations to predict the critical ventilation velocity in longitudinally ventilated horizontal tunnels10.1016/j.firesaf.2008.02.002 ↗
24. Thermal runaway mechanism of lithium ion battery for electric vehicles: A review10.1016/j.ensm.2017.05.013 ↗
25. Thermal runaway and fire behaviors of a 300 Ah lithium ion battery with LiFePO4 as cathode10.1016/j.rser.2021.110717 ↗
26. Yao, H., Xing, M., Song, H., Zhang, Y., Luo, S., and Bai, Z. (2024). The Impact of Different Ventilation Conditions on Electric Bus Fires. Fire, 7.10.3390/fire7060182 ↗
27. Numerical analysis of how ventilation conditions impact compartment fire suppression by water mist10.1016/j.anucene.2019.107021 ↗
28. Simulating longitudinal ventilation flows in long tunnels: Comparison of full CFD and multi-scale modelling approaches in FDS610.1016/j.tust.2015.11.003 ↗
29. CFD simulation of straight and slightly swirling turbulent free jets using different RANS-turbulence models10.1016/j.applthermaleng.2015.05.048 ↗
30. A numerical study on the influence of different tunnel lining insulation materials in a road tunnel fire10.1016/j.matpr.2019.12.274 ↗
31. Drying behaviour of calcium silicate10.1016/j.conbuildmat.2014.04.129 ↗
32. Identification of the thermal properties of concrete for the temperature calculation of concrete slabs and columns subjected to a standard fire—Methodology and proposal for simplified formulations10.1016/j.firesaf.2016.12.003 ↗
33. Sjodin, V. (2014). Thermal Analysis of Tunnel Fires with Different Surface Boundaries. [Master’s Thesis, Department of Civil, Environmental and Natural Resources Engineering, Luleå University of Technology].
34. Design Approach for Improving Fire-Resistance Performance of Tunnel Lining Based on SiO2 Aerogel Coating10.1061/(ASCE)CF.1943-5509.0001439 ↗
35. Synthesis and thermal insulation performance of silica aerogel from recycled coal gangue by means of ambient pressure drying10.1007/s11595-015-1248-9 ↗
36. Calibrating an FDS Simulation of Goods-vehicle Fire Growth in a Tunnel Using the Runehamar Experiment10.1177/1042391508101981 ↗