A new natural ventilation method for fire-induced smoke control in a common subway station

ABSTRACTCompared with the mechanical ventilation, natural ventilation is an effective, low cost and low maintenance way for smoke control in many buildings. In this paper, a new method of setting shafts was proposed to realise the natural ventilation in a common subway station. The theoretical analysis and the numerical method were used to assist the design strategy. Results show that when setting shafts for the hall layer, the total ventilation area and the height of the shafts are the key factors influencing the smoke control efficiency. The multistage shafts can be used for smoke control in the platform layer and the strong stack effect formed in this layer can bring many benefits on improving the smoke control efficiency. To strengthen the stack effect and form the optimal smoke flow paths, the most effective ways are increasing the smoke screen height and closing all the platform screen doors.