Cooling Methods for Railway Tunnels

Abstract

In this paper the cooling of a railway tunnel and its environment is investigated, with particular reference to a study of possible methods for reducing both local and overall average tunnel air temperatures. Both passive and supplementary cooling of a tunnel are considered and then various practical systems are proposed for those situations where passive cooling alone may be inadequate. In some cases, calculations for realistic conditions are made using the First Law of Thermodynamics to assess the efficacy of the system from the thermal point of view. It is concluded that with the advent of increasing energy dissipation, as a consequence of increase in tunnel usage, thermally efficient and cost-effective cooling systems must be developed if temperatures are to be maintained at acceptable levels.