E-newsletter 1 st edition, December 09

Transcription

1 E-newsletter

2 Inside this issue 1. Foreword TRANSFEU general description Status of art of the Rail Directives, TSIs and any other relevant regulatory documents Project progress report, from M1 to M Fire test for toxicity of fire effluents (WP02) Leader - LSFIRE Development of conventional pragmatic classifications system for the toxicity of fire effluents released from products on trains (WP03) Leader: EW Fire safety engineering methodology for surface transport (WP04) Leader Bombardier Transportation Development of numerical simulation tools for fire performance, evacuation of people and decision tool for the train design (WP05) Leader University of Wuppertal Development of assessment criteria of toxic effects on people due to the combustion of products in train (WP06) Leader LNE Exploitation, Dissemination and Contribution to standards (WP07) Leader - UNIFE Foreword Dear readers, We are happy to present the European Project TRANSFEU supported through the Seventh Framework Programme for Research and Technological Development and the TRANSFEU partners. TRANSFEU (Transport Fire Safety Engineering in the European Union) is the first research programme about the fire safety of entire surface transport vehicles. In particular, TRANSFEU will investigate the toxicity effect of fire effluents generated under dynamic conditions on passengers and crew in public transport guided systems. The results may also be applied to other modes of public transport, especially to road vehicles (such as coaches) and to ships. It is a very ambitious and strategic research project which will allow optimising technical and economical solutions in Europe for the fire safety in surface transport. It will provide an innovative fire safety design approach based on performances for railway and other surface transport. This approach will allow the assessment of the effectiveness of the total fire safety system in achieving the design objectives. It will also provide an alternative to the prescriptive approach and complementary fire protection strategies for the adoption of more complex and innovative but economically viable design objectives. The following e-newsletter explains how this approach started. Alain SAINRAT TRANSFEU Coordinator

3 2. TRANSFEU General description The main goal of TRANSFEU is to develop a holistic approach of fire safety-performance based-design methodology able to support efficiently European surface transport standardisation. In particular, the project will directly contribute to the finalisation of the CEN EN Part 2 for a dynamic measure of toxicity and to use fire safety engineering (FSE) and simulation as a possible alternative to current Fire safety regulation and standard (TSI and TS 45545). It will be based on: A new, accurate measurement tool for toxic gas fire effluents under dynamic conditions for Public Transport Guided Systems. This new tool will allow a continuous record of toxic gas concentrations versus time to be determined; A deeper understanding and measurement of underlying dynamic phenomena governing fire initiation, growth under typical railway vehicle scenarios, which can predict the real scale burning behaviour of products and assemblies; The adoption of fire safety engineering methodology that offers the necessary modelling tools for establishing realistic and acceptable economic levels of fire safety without unnecessary constraints in vehicle or vessel design. This will be supported by the development of original simulation tools; The application and validation of the tests, methods and tools in public transport guided systems fire safety scenarios and standardization with potential to other surface transports. TRANSFEU is one of the most important effort (also in economic terms) addressing the safety of passengers and crew in the event of a fire. It will be used to finalize the EN standard as it will close the open points in the CR TSI, SRT TSI and HS TSI. TRANSFEU will define the EN standard for conducting the measurements and classifying the products. Then models will be developed to predict the fire behavior and growth in public transport guided systems fire scenarios. Impact: The project gathers the leading European railway manufacturers, railway operators, research organisations and standardization bodies with their interdisciplinary expertise across Europe. More precisely, the expected results are: - New generation of realistic dynamic measurement methodology of the emission of toxic fumes in case of fire - Cost-effective methods and modelling tools for fire safety design able to predict realistic fire behaviour and the time to reach critical conditions within passenger rail vehicles. Simulation tools will provide fire guidance on the design, on fire safety measures and a way to explore alternative designs - Validation of the new fire safety methods and tools in railway scenarios and of the toxic fire effluents classification criteria from products used on trains - Significant contribution to future fire safety standards for all means of surface transport.

4 Information on TRANSFEU - Budget: 5.54 M - Starting date: April Duration: 42 months - Consortium: 21 partners - Coordination by Laboratoire National de métrologie et d Essais (LNE) TRANSFEU consortium: ALMA CONSULTING GROUP ALSTOM TRANSPORT ANSALDOBREDA BERGISCHE UNIVERSITÄT WUPPERTAL BOMBARDIER TRANSPORTATION BRE GLOBAL CENTRUM NAUKOWO TECHNICZNE KOLEJNICTWA CURRENTA DEUTSCHE BAHN DIN DEUTSCHES INSTITUT FUER NORMUNG EXOVA WARRINGTONFIRE FUNDACION CIDEMCO L.S.FIRE TESTING INSTITUTE LABORATOIRE NATIONAL DE METROLOGIE ET D ESSAIS RATP - REGIE AUTONOME DES TRANSPORTS PARISIENS SIEMENS AKTIENGESELLSCHAFT SNCF - SOCIETE NATIONALE DES CHEMINS DE FER SP TECHNICAL RESEARCH INSTITUTE OF SWEDEN TRENITALIA UNIFE - THE EUROPEAN RAIL INDUSTRY VALTION TEKNILLINEN TUTKIMUSKEKUS

5 TRANSFEU project roadmap

6 3. State of the art of the Rail Directive, TSIs and any other relevant regulatory documents Railway vehicles Since the early 1990s, the European Commission has been developing Directives for the operational and technical harmonization of the European rail system. In the frame of the revitalization of railway sector, the railway directives aim to improve the competitiveness and position of the Railway sector, mandating the opening of the market. The rules applicable for Fire Safety for European trains are represented on two levels: 1. Regulatory with European Directives and Technical Specifications for Interoperability (TSI) These documents are mandatory at EU level. 2. Standards with European Standards (EN) These documents are also European rules but on voluntary basis; when quoted in the TSI they become mandatory. The Interoperability and Safety Directives are applicable for both high-speed and conventional rail systems. Various Technical Specifications for Interoperability have been published and further TSIs are being drafted. Materials and components selection for railway vehicles shall take into account their reaction to fire properties, especially their fire initiation and fire growth parameters. In addition, an essential safety requirement of the HS, CR and SRT TSIs for most operating systems is that the choice of materials installed in European trains must aim to limit the generation of smoke and toxic fumes so that passengers and crew can escape safely from a train with a fire on board. The present situation is that pending publication of EN Part 2, conformity with the EC requirements for prevention of fire on European trains on the European interoperability network is deemed to be satisfied by verification of conformity to the material fire safety requirements of the notified national rules from one of 5 member states (France, UK, Italy, Poland or Germany as stated in paragraph of the HS RST TSI 2008) (or TS to see with Eric Fontanel). When applying these rules, it is always necessary to use the appropriate operation category for the railway vehicle. The aim for future European railway standardization is that the EN Part 2 will be used to decide if materials are safe for use in terms of their reaction to fire properties, including a revised ISO test and FTIR gas analytical methodology.

7 EC Directives for Marine Vessels Sailing International Waters (MED) The Marine Equipment Directive published in 1996 first came into force on 1 January 1999 and covers certain equipment carried on ships registered under the flags of the European Union Member States. It was established to ensure that equipment which must comply with the requirements of International Conventions i.e. Safety of Life at Sea, 1974 (SOLAS) agreed by the International Maritime Organisation also meets common standards of safety and performance across the EU. Approval requirements were harmonised which ensures that certificates issued in one Member State are accepted by all States across the EU. The Directive applies to all Community Registered Ships. Thus, all equipment listed in Annex 1 of the MED and placed on EU ships, must carry a Wheel Mark showing compliance with the Directive. A listing of the Equipment covered is provided in the Annexes of the Directive. This includes: Life saving appliances Marine Pollution Prevention Fire Protection Navigation Equipment Radio Communication Equipment The Directive is currently undergoing its 7 th revision, which includes the use of ISO smoke chamber with FTIR gas analysis.

8 4. Project progress report, from M1 to M6 4.1 Fire test for toxicity of fire effluents (WP02) Leader - LSFIRE From the 1st of April 2009, the WP has carried out much preliminary research to the Phase of testing, for realizing a system able to give an answer to the different measurement difficulties that occur using the EN ISO smoke chamber. A review of current toxicity test methods for fire effluents generated by products was conducted. In particular, the results of the EC SAFIR project and upto-date documentation from ISO/TC92/SC1 and SC3 have been considered as guidance for the TRANSFEU laboratories. In particular, the analysis procedure for toxic gases contained in the effluent from combustion has been investigated in a dynamic way, i.e. by monitoring the emissions in continuous way. Dynamic measurement is necessary to determine the Available Safe Evacuation Times (ASET) in a fire scenario study. First of all, it was necessary to model the atmosphere movements inside the box, as well as the temperature of smoke and gases during the exposure of the specimens to the required irradiance levels. This work is extremely useful for determining the points and the procedure of sampling and the characteristics of the apparatus. Other works represented a big progress in the apparatus standardization: Detail of FTIR pressure gauge A) The realization of the filtering system able to assure the cell protection and, at the same time, the sampling efficiency for the required 20 minutes, by using good heating systems. B) The positioning of the heat flux meter, of the specimen-holder, and of the small pool for calibration with liquids, already distributed to the three laboratories for assuring the same testing conditions. C) The use of a cooler for stabilizing the specified heat flux and send it to the system exit. All the WP2 members have fully collaborated to the TRANSFEU progress, with satisfactory results.

9 4.2 Development of conventional pragmatic classifications system for the toxicity of fire effluents released from products on trains (WP03) Leader: EW. The objective of WP3 is to develop a classification system for the toxicity of fire effluents from products on railway vehicles, which will be based upon a conventional prescriptive approach. This system will be used to set requirements for inclusion in the finalisation of the CEN EN45545 Part 2 by the end of During this first 6-month period, attention has been paid to the selection of 30 products that could be studied in Task Groups 3A (structural products and flooring), 3B (seats and bedding) and 3C (electro technical products including cables). The location of these products on various operation categories of European trains has been considered so that the conditions for fire tests can be related to the end-use of the product and hence, the derived classification criteria can be seen to be relevant to real train environments. The modelling requirements for these products are also being studied with respect to the Available Safe Evacuation Times (ASET) for passengers and crew on typical European trains. 4.3 Fire safety engineering methodology for surface transport - WP04- Leader: Bombardier During the first 6 months of activity the WP04 was able to describe four fire scenarios for verification of the traditional classification of Railway products according the toxicity of fire products. These four fire scenarios shall also deliver the input for selection of products of WP 2.2.1: - 1A Open Passenger area (150m3) for Operation Category 1 with platform on both ends and intermediate gangways to another vehicle - 1B Open Passenger area (150m3) for Operation Category 2 with platform on both ends and intermediate gangways to another vehicle - 2A Double Decker class A (Operation category 2) - 2B Double Decker class B (Operation category 3)

10 The attributes for defining the 4 Fire scenarios are: 1. Ventilation conditions during fire impact 2. Ignition sources 3. Arrangements of materials (quantity) 4. Fire load and growth 5. Fire detection 6. Fire protection (effects time based) 7. Fire control according mitigation measures 8. Evacuation measures 9. Passenger quantity and information about the mobility 10. Geometrical measurement 3D In addition the WP04 determined the input data which are necessary for FSE and the structure for the database construction. 4.4 Development of numerical simulation tools for fire performance, evacuation of people and decision tool for the train design - WP05 Leader: University of Wuppertal The objective of this Work Package is to develop: * Numerical simulation tools for fire performance and evacuation of people adapted to the train scenarios in order to be used in the FSE methodology developed in the WP04. * Decision tool for the fire safety engineering concept New numerical simulation tools for fire performance and evacuation of people will be developed by adaptation of existing simulation tools to the scenarios developed in the WP04.

11 Four kinds of tools will be developed in order to simulate: * Fire development on the product and in the vehicle * Effect of effluents on passengers and staff * Evacuation of the vehicle by the passengers and the staff * The effect of the fire on the structural integrity of fire barriers The first three will be validated by tests on real coaches in WP06. The first two numerical tools will be validated by checking their sensitivity to the design fire scenarios identified in the WP04. This checking will also permit a validation of the relevant design fire scenarios identified in the WP04. Based on the information obtained from the simulation tools and the FSE methodology developed in WP04 a decision tool for the vehicle fire safety concept will be developed.

12 4.5 Development of assessment criteria of toxic effects on people due to the combustion of products in train - WP06 - Leader LNE TRANSFEU WP06 deals with validation of the conventional toxicity classification and the numerical simulation tools for the prediction of the effect of fire on people. The work is divided into 5 main tasks: 6.1 Selection of products, representative fire scenarios and real scale test (in relation with WP04). The selection of test methods and associated thermal attack will be defined in accordance with CEN TS Annex A Ignition model Tests on real products. The tests will be performed on wall/partition/ceiling and on seats, under large scale calorimeter hood. Measurements will focus on heat release rate and toxic gas emission. 6.3 Tests on a real cars in order to predict the time to reach the critical effects on people. Two cars are used for these large scale tests: one metro car and one double-deck car. They will be refurbished using different materials to reproduce different HL situations. Four tests will be performed, 2 per car. 6.4 Prediction of the Available Safe Evacuation Time (ASET) according to the critical effects on passengers and crew in specific cars based on raw data obtained by small scale tests in WP Validation of the conventional pragmatic toxicity classification criteria proposed in the WP03 Only task 6.1 has started at present time. Example of real seat test according to CEN/TS Annex B

13 4.6 Exploitation, Dissemination and Contribution to standards (WP07) Leader - UNIFE - TRANSFEU Initial plan for the use and the dissemination of foreground has been agreed between all partners in August A list of public deliverables has been set by the TRANSFEU Scientific Panel and the WP07 will ensure their correct dissemination. - A project identity has been set and in particular the logo for the project has been chosen and the TRANSFEU leaflet released. Articles & internal events - A 2-pages article will be published in the issue 21 of EURAILmag. - LNE will write an article in L Antenne les transports au quotidien. TRANSFEU held its 2 nd General Assembly on 4th of December 09 in Brussels. Where to find us TRANSFEU partners are actively participating to the major European events that concern fire safety. You can find us at the following conferences: 24 th - 25 th March 2010 Fire Protection of Rolling Stock Conference, London, UK 22 nd April Brandschutztag Schienenfahrzeuge, Germany 25 th 27 th May 2010 Seventh International Rail Forum, Valencia, Spain 5 th -7 th July 2010, INTERFLAM, Nottingham, United Kingdom 29 th 30 th September 2010 FIVE Fires in vehicles, Gothenburg, Sweden 2011, International Fire Security Congress, SCI 2011, Madrid, Spain You can now visit us at

14 DO NOT HESITATE TO CONTACT US FOR ADDITIONAL INFORMATION Giorgio Travaini WP07 Leader Office: