Brendan Ware 21 / Apr / 14 ENGL 10600

Squeezing out the Heat Over the twentieth century urban dwellers have accounted for more and more of the worlds total population, this is expected to continue through the twenty first century as well. Due to increased use and density of transit lines, subways, and metros, there is a considerable danger of overheating. The ground around this useful transport method has become saturated with heat, while the air above urban areas has risen dramatically as well. Without adequate cooling, the transit systems temperature would rise to uncomfortable and even dangerous levels. There have been many measures put in place, as stated by Botelle, Payne, and Redhead in Squeezing the heat out of Londons Tube, to stall this rise in temperature, from large piston systems, to water coolants. Although these ideas are a step in the right direction, they are not permanent solutions. Many fixes will need to be implemented over decades in order to maintain the current temperature level. Together many small fixes, along with the current measures, should keep the air cool. These small fixes fall into three different categories; structural, extensive, and discreet. I will try and add to the ideas currently in circulation as to which solutions to this problem are best. A mix of many current and potentially viable projects would be the best method to properly address this issue. I will go over current solutions and implementations briefly, after this I will talk about the three different categories of solutions and the projects that fit within their parameters.

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Currently, many urban areas using underground transportation systems are seeing a rise in population, this corresponds to a rise in ridership for metro systems. To compensate, many new lines have been built, with this comes other infrastructure, HVAC, lighting, ect. All of this added energy, along with the rising global and local temperatures, has made the ground around various undergrounds hot. What was once a reliable heat sink, is now giving off heat. Riders of major metropolitan systems are very picky about the condition in which they will ride. The humidity and temperature need to be corralled into a fairly small range (Ampofo (1), 2004). Outside of this range, which varies by season, passengers will complain, discontinue their ridership, or at the extremes succumb to a heat related illness, like a heart attack. Many solutions have been proposed to reduce this effect, and in some cases to reverse it. One such example is the large and elaborate piston system in use on the London Underground. This method uses the intense pressure created by a traveling tube train and a series of chimneys to push the heated air out from underground. The other example is a series of water coolants pipes. These would be taken from the water table or brown water sources. Either separate or together these designs do address the issue, but neither is able to fully control the massive excess in heat produced. Firstly, if a stable temperature were to be reached, a great deal of these chimneys would need to be put in place. These are larger than the average chimney taking up about the same space as a terraced house. With ground space having such a high price, the use of the piston method is notably limited by how much the TFL Company and the City of Greater London are willing to pay (Chen, 2013).

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Secondly, the coolant pipes would be a lot less efficient than the piston system. A greater amount of work would be needed to get the same effect. This work corresponds to a hike in spending, which many cities and rail companies cannot afford. There are three main groups of patches, small fixes that together do more than the sum of their parts. The first is structural, it deals with the basic build of the trains, lines, tunnels, and stations. The second is extensive, these are changes that require many man hours, may shut a section of the line down, and cost a large amount of money. The third group is discreet, these happen away from the public eye, they rarely affect the train lines, and are usually cheap maintenance fixes. Although a single patch can overlap between two of these groups, it is a good way to organize them. It is well known that even without a piston structure trains have a great effect on station airflow (Huang, 2009). Using current ventilation shafts within the station, this natural air flow could be used on a much smaller scale but with the same effect that the piston system encourages. Another plus to this fairly discreet method would be that the massive bursts of air which run through stations when trains depart would be lessened. The current ventilation shafts within the station would need to be reworked, and maybe rearranged, but this would have little to no effect on the daily traffic or efficiency of the system. A structural fix to this problem may well include a change in materials (Ampofo (2), 2004). Tunnel walls are sometimes decades old. They are made from ceramics, concretes, and heat insulating materials. If new strong, and heat conductive materials are used, less effort

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would be required to cool the system. This would be very extensive, as pulling down the walls of a train line typically shuts it down for the length of time that work is concurrent. A very extensive fix that is well known addresses the issue of braking. Braking on trains is the number one cause of heat in a metro system (Ampofo (2), 2004). It is more of a problem than lighting and electrical output combined. Unfortunately, as each train is very expensive, modifying or replacing the brake system is not a viable option for many cities. Many studies have noted that the temperature of various cities is increasing, many cities have acquired what is known as a heat island. These are the areas above cities where the temperature is several degrees warmer than the surrounding air (Wibly, 2003). This rise in ambient temperature has lessened temperature differential between the underground and the outside. This in turn has slowed the amount of air flowing from the heat source, the train lines, to the heat sink, the outside air. This lack of flow has worried some that traditional ventilation shafts are not enough (Botelle, 2010) (Chen, 2013). Many have argued for a coolant system such as the one proposed by Botelle et al. but historically a rise in air temperature coincides with a rise in aquifer temperature. A very extensive and energy consuming method has been overlooked due to its massive drain on resources. Fans have been used to cool all kinds of systems, factories, servers, electrical, and mechanical. Installing fans into already existing ventilation shafts may not be the

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most economical, but it would definitely be effective. This would not impede the current ventilation, but instead work to keep it fairly constant and at a high level of efficiency. There are many fixes that could alleviate the problem of excess heat within underground transit systems. Unfortunately, alone they are worthless, expensive or ineffective. Methods such as the piston and water coolant pipes are currently in place but do not address fully the issue of trapped heat. Other methods such as a rearranging of ventilation shafts are discreet, and could provide a very effective tool to combat thermal output. Still others, such as replacing old materials, are a two for one, both an issue of maintenance and heat capacity. Finally there are the extensive and last ditch attempts at fixing this problem, costing time, money, and energy in the extreme. It is clear that something must be done to keep conditions in transit systems at the very least livable. Many models need to be created, and studies need to be completed in order to tell where investments are most effectively made. These proposed ideas are valid alone but together can become a very potent force that would negate the slow and near inevitable rise of temperature within underground rail systems.

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Works Cited Ampofo, F. Maidment, G. Missenden, J. Underground railway environment in the UK Part 1: Review of thermal comfort Applied thermal engineering Apr 2004: 611 631. Print. Ampofo, F. Maidment, G. Missenden, J. Underground railway environment in the UK Part 2: Investigation of heat load Applied thermal engineering Apr 2004: 633 645. Print. Botelle, M. Payne, K. Redhead, B. Squeezing the heat out of Londons tube Proceedings of the ICE - civil engineering Aug 2010: 114 122. Print. Chen, Q. Chendorain, M. Pillai, A. Nicholson, D. P. (13 Feb 2013). Developments in thermal pile and thermal tunnel linings for city scale GSHP systems. Web. 10 Apr 2014. <https://pangea.stanford.edu/ERE/db/GeoConf/papers/SGW/2013/Nicholson.pdf> Huang, P. Jai, L. Yang, L. Numerical simulation of flow characteristics in a subway station Heat transfer asian research 9 Jan 2009: 275 283. Print. Wilby, R. L. Past and projected trends in Londons urban heat island Weather Jul 2003: 251 260. Print.

Figure 1
A metaphor for the Research/Writing Process

Referential, Epistemic

Persuasive, Rhetorical

COLLECTING
Of data

SIFTING
Of data

SEEKING
Of patterns

TRANSLATING
Of findings

Hunting
Strategic, Finding

Gathering
Heuristic, Discovering