The environment and energy consumption of a subway tunnel by the influence of piston wind

With the flourishing development of the subway construction, it becomes increasingly urgent to improve the subway tunnel environment and reduce the energy consumption of the tunnel ventilation system. The tunnel environment is significantly affected by the piston wind, which is influenced by the train speed. In this paper, a three-dimensional computational model of a subway tunnel is developed and validated through experiments. The model is used to study the carbon dioxide concentration and thermal environment of the subway tunnel. The optimal train speed is proposed with the aim to minimize the volume of mechanical supply air and to optimize the carbon dioxide concentration and thermal environment of the tunnel. In parallel with the considerations of tunnel environment, the subways in 25 cities of China are analyzed to study the energy conservation of the tunnel ventilation system by making full use of piston wind. The results indicate that the optimal train speed is 30 m/s based on the carbon dioxide concentration and thermal environment. The effective utilization of the piston wind can reduce 13% similar to 32% of the energy consumption for tunnel ventilation. The calculation method of the optimal train speed developed in this paper is also applicable to ordinary railway tunnels and high-speed railway tunnels.