International Journal of Thermal Sciences 184 (2023) 107949

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International Journal of Thermal Sciences

journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/ijts

Modeling effective heat transfer and ventilation in deeply buried

underground tunnels
Jinnan Guo a, Angui Li a, *, Chi Zhang a, Jiaxing Li a, Jigang Che a, Jing Xiong a, b, Xinqi Jiao a
a
School of Building Services Science and Engineering, Xi’an University of Architecture and Technology, Xi’an, China
b
Yantai Aiclunt New Energy Technology Co, Ltd, Yantai, China

A R T I C L E I N F O A B S T R A C T

Keywords: Underground traffic tunnels serve as entry and exit buildings for structures underground spaces. Most ventilation
Underground tunnel and air-conditioning systems in underground spaces rely on traffic tunnels for cooling or preheating to save
Temperature distribution energy. To analyze the cooling or preheating performance of the traffic tunnel, a combination of the energy
Heat transfer model
conservation law, boundary layer theory, and field measurement was used to establish a simple heat transfer
Tunnel ventilation
Field test
model of the deeply buried underground tunnel for smooth and rough conditions. Moreover, the dimensionless
analysis method was used to perform a dimensionless analysis of the results. Field tests found that the air
temperature in the traffic tunnel harmonically fluctuates from 20.2 ◦ C to 29.4 ◦ C at the entrance with time. The
fluctuation amplitude decreases along the tunnel, and the air temperature difference between the peaks and
troughs is only 1.2 ◦ C at the outlet. In summer, the air temperature decreases and increases exponentially from
29.4 ◦ C to 23.4 ◦ C and from 20.2 ◦ C to 22.2 ◦ C along the tunnel during the day and night, respectively. The
convective heat transfer coefficients are 2.31 W m− 2 K− 1, 4.05 W m− 2 K− 1, and 3.32 W m− 2 K− 1 under smooth,
rough, and test conditions, respectively. Dimensionlessizing the air temperature found that the established model
is a good description of the exponential decay of air temperature. Combined with the heat transfer models, the
effective heat transfer analysis showed that the effective and optimal heat transfer lengths of the underground
traffic tunnel were 1545 m and 628 m, respectively. The established the heat transfer model that calculated the
temperature distribution of underground traffic tunnels provides important theoretical support for underground
traffic tunnels as natural air conditioners, which have important economic and environmental benefits.

1. Introduction
As a clean energy source, hydropower resources play an important
and positive role in energy conservation, emission reduction and envi­
ronmental protection worldwide [1,2]. Hydropower is currently a clean
energy source that can be developed commercially on a large scale [3].
Therefore, countries all over the world regard the development of hy­
dropower resources as an important energy strategy. Most countries in
the world are committed to the development of the hydropower industry
[4], including China, the United States, Canada, Russia and Brazil. China
is rich in hydropower resources, with 542 million gigawatt hours of
hydropower resources available for development, ranking first in the
world. The history of China’s hydropower development spans more than
a hundred years [5,6]. Currently, China’s hydropower development has
also achieved world-renowned achievements [7]. Hydropower stations
are primarily underground buildings, and indoor thermal and humid
environment control is critical to the safety of workers and the safe
operation of electromechanical equipment [8,9]. With the recent
development of the hydropower industry, the ventilation and air con­
ditioning technology of underground power space has been vigorously
developed. Ventilation systems have become essential systems to con­
ditioning the underground space thermal and humidity environment.
The ventilation and air conditioning system must consume a lot of
energy to control the indoor thermal and humidity environment of the
underground power station [10]. Traffic tunnel services as a large
ventilation duct that brings fresh outside air into underground power
plants to prevent dangerous or harmful accumulations of dust, fumes or
gases. Compared with ground buildings, underground power stations
are buried deep underground [11], and the underground thermal
environment in which they are located is stable [12,13]. The traffic
tunnel can cool and heat the air from the outside in summer and winter
respectively, providing fresh air of the appropriate temperature to the

* Corresponding author.
E-mail address: liag@xauat.edu.cn (A. Li).

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijthermalsci.2022.107949
Received 12 July 2022; Received in revised form 13 September 2022; Accepted 19 September 2022
Available online 30 September 2022
1290-0729/© 2022 Elsevier Masson SAS. All rights reserved.
J. Guo et al. International Journal of Thermal Sciences 184 (2023) 107949

underground space and reducing the energy consumption of air condi­
tioning [14–16]. Based on this feature, as known since ancient times, the
heat exchange between the supply air and the tunnel is used to cool the
space in summer [17–19]. Recently, the technology of using the soil heat
storage capacity to control the indoor thermal environment has been
widely used in underground power plants [20–22].
Most traffic tunnels are buried deep underground, and the extension
distance can reach 1000 m. According to the narrow and long inside of
the tunnel, Krarti et al. simplified the tunnel heat transfer model into a
one-dimensional heat transfer and established an analytical model to
determine the energy performance of the underground air tunnel [14].
Based on energy conservation, some scholars have also developed a
prediction model to describe the air temperature distribution along an
underground tunnel [23–26]. Air temperature was found to decay
exponentially along an underground traffic tunnel [27–29], and the
exponential decay law of air temperature was more applicable to tunnel
air temperature prediction [17]. Based on the exponential change, Li
et al. systematically studied the effects of roughness and ventilation
velocity on the cooling efficiency of tunnels through experiments [30].
In addition, Liu [31], Gao [32] and Mao [33] et al. discretized the
one-dimensional heat transfer model, and established a simple numer­
ical model of heat and mass transfer in an underground tunnel through
numerical solution, and the numerical model could accurately describe
real test results. However, the computational accuracies of these models
depended on the accuracy of the convective heat transfer coefficient [34,
35].
Determining the convective heat transfer coefficient requires the
pipe convective heat transfer theory [36–38]. The classic convective
heat transfer coefficient model is based on the correlation formula
calculated using the experimental test results, as shown in Table 1.
Currently, when modeling the heat transfer model of an underground
tunnel, researchers use the convective heat transfer coefficient based on
the convective heat transfer of the pipe [39,40]. However, the heat ex­
change process between the air and the wall in the underground tunnel
is more complex than the convection heat transfer in the pipeline that is
affected by the wall’s roughness and the air mass transfer of the tunnel.
The convective heat transfer coefficients calculated by different models
are thus different. Mou proposed a simple convective heat transfer co­
efficient model by summarizing the field test results when calculating
the heat transfer of an underground tunnel [41]. Margaux et al. pre­
sented novel relationships between the convection heat transfer coeffi­
cient and the average airflow velocity that may be used in the analysis
and design of the addressed non-isothermal problems of internal flow
[42]. However, they did not systematically confirm this theory. To
accurately calculate the cooling or preheating performance of under­
ground traffic tunnels, a universally applicable convective heat transfer
coefficient model is urgently required.
The goal of this paper is to analyze and establish a convective heat
transfer model that describes underground traffic tunnels accurately
using boundary layer theory and energy conservation. A field test was
carried out in a traffic tunnel within an underground power station, and
the airflow and wall temperatures along the tunnel were obtained. A
new temperature distribution model is theoretically established, veri­
fied, and applied to calculate the air temperature in an underground
traffic tunnel. The ventilation velocity, wall roughness and section size
of the underground traffic tunnel are the primary factors that affect the
convective heat transfer between the air and the wall in the under­
ground traffic tunnel, and have been discussed in detail.
2. Theoretical methodology
Focusing on the narrow and long underground traffic tunnels of
hydropower stations, we simplified the heat transfer process of under­
ground traffic tunnels into one-dimensional heat transfer. According to
the law of conservation of energy and boundary layer theory, the ther­
mal balance equation and turbulent boundary layer energy equation of
the underground traffic tunnel can be established. By integrating these
equations, the distribution model of air temperature along the route and
the calculation model of the convective heat transfer coefficient can be
obtained in this paper, respectively.
2.1. Heat transfer model of a deeply buried underground tunnel
A tunnel serves as a large ventilation duct to conduct outside fresh air
into the underground space. The airflow in the tunnel experiences a
convective heat-exchange process. The tunnel in underground hydro­
power stations extends for long distances up to 1000 m and is buried
deep underground [31]. Therefore, the heat transfer model can be
simplified as a steady heat convection in an infinitely long cylinder [17,
33]. Thermal balance in a control volume along the tunnel, as shown in
Fig. 1, requires that the amount of convective heat transfer between the
airflow and the rock wall is equal to the amount of internal energy
change in the control volume, and the thermal balance equation [17,
31–33] is expressed as follows:
[ ]
∂ Tf (x) [ ]
ρcp um F dx = αU Tw − Tf (x) dx + Qdx (1)
∂x
or:
[ ]
∂ Tf (x) − Tw αU [ ] Q
+ T (x) − Tw = (2)
∂x ρcp um F f ρcp um F
where, Tf (x) is the air temperature at x, ◦ C; x is the distance from the
tunnel entrance, m; Tw is the tunnel wall temperature, ◦ C; α is the
convective heat transfer coefficients of the airflow and tunnel walls,
W⋅m− 2⋅K− 1; Uis the perimeter of the tunnel section, m; Fis the area of the
tunnel section, m2; ρ is the air density, kg⋅m− 3; cp is the air specific heat

Table 1
Common computational models for Nu.
Surface roughness Author Nu models

Hydraulically smooth surface Dittus-Boelter [43] Nu = 0.023Re0.8 Pr0.3

[ ( )2 3 ]( )0.45
Gnielinski [43] (f/8)(Re − 1000)Pr d
/
Tf
Nu = √̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅( 2 3 ) 1+
1 + 1.27 f/8 Pr − 1 l TW
/

W. M. Kays [44] 0.023Re0.8 Pr

Nu =
0.88 + 2.03(Pr2/3 − 0.78)Re− 0.1

Nu = 0.022Re0.8 Pr0.5
L.Q. Mou [41] Nu = 0.02Re0.8
Isachenko [45] 0.003RePr
Nu = (
2
)
0.93 + 0.075 Pr 3 − 1
/

Fully rough surface L.Q. Mou [41] Nu = 0.045Re0.8

Norris [44] Cf
Nu = Nusmooth
Cfsmooth

2
J. Guo et al. International Journal of Thermal Sciences 184 (2023) 107949

Fig. 1. Heat transfer model of the underground traffic tunnel of the hydropower station.

capacity, J⋅kg− 1⋅K− 1; um is the ventilation velocity, m⋅s− 1; and Q is the

heat source in the tunnel, W⋅m− 1.
Equation (2) is a first-order ordinary differential equation, and its
general solution is:
[ ]
Q ρcαpUx
(3)
− αUx
Tf (x) − Tw = e ρcp um F e um F + C
αU
When x = 0, Tf (0)= T0 , as shown in Fig. 1, then:
Q
C = T0 − Tw − (4)
αU
There is no continuous heat source in the traffic tunnel of the un­
derground power station, and Q = 0 is assumed in this study. Then,
Equation (3) becomes:

(5)
− ρcαpUx
Tf (x) = Tw − (Tw − T0 )e um F

where T0 is the air temperature at x = 0, ◦ C.

From Equation (5), a relationship of exponential decay on the air Fig. 3. Isotherm on a cross-section of an experimental tunnel.
temperature along with the tunnel shown, as shown in Fig. 2. This
exponential relationship is more practical in the field of tunnel venti­
lation [46–48], which allows both cooling for underground ground
construction in summer and heating in winter [32].

2.2. Convective heat transfer coefficient between air and rock wall

Underground traffic tunnels are different from the ground-level

structures due to the soil thermal effect. Underground construction is
in a relatively stable thermal environment due to the soil when
compared to a ground-level building. And it is found that the effect of
cross-section geometry shape in the underground tunnels on the
isotherm on the cross-section is not significant when analyzing the test
results of the heat transfer process of a long, deeply buried underground
construction model in the “Southwest test hole” in China [49]. And all
the isotherms can be seen as the concentric circles, as shown in Fig. 3.
Moreover, Su et al. [11] and Liu et al. [31] treated the soil surrounding
the tunnel as an equivalent long annulus to establish the numerical heat

Fig. 4. Schematic of a simplified cross-section structure in an underground

traffic tunnel.

transfer model of deeply buried underground tunnel, which showed

Fig. 2. Schematic of the air temperature curve in the underground traffic
tunnel of the hydropower station.
good agreement between the simulated results and measurement data.
Therefore, this paper assumed that the section of the underground traffic
tunnel is circular, as shown in Fig. 4, and established a turbulent
boundary layer model to calculate α. Based on the boundary layer the­
ory, the development of the boundary layer in the circular tunnel is
shown in Fig. 5.
According to boundary layer theory, the turbulent boundary layer
energy equation [44] can be described as follows:

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J. Guo et al. International Journal of Thermal Sciences 184 (2023) 107949

√̅̅̅̅̅̅̅ √̅̅̅̅̅̅̅
y T0 ) τ0 /ρ
and T+ = , and substituting ν/Pr for λ/ρ, Equation (13)
τ 0 /ρ (T−
ν q/ρc
becomes follows:
∫ y+
1 − y/r0
T+ = dy+ (16)
0 1/Pr + εH /ν
Applying the boundary layer theory to the viscous bottom layer, the
air flow is shown to be completely laminar, and the viscous bottom layer
is thin, thus εH /ν ≈ 0 and y/r0 ≈ 0 can be assumed. In the turbulent
boundary layer, the thermal conductivity of air molecules is negligible
Fig. 5. Development of the boundary layer in the circular tunnel. relative to the turbulent conductivity; thus, that is 1/Pr ≈ 0. The study
[44] found that the effective thickness of the viscous bottom layer of the
[ ( )] thermal boundary layer of air flow is 13.2; thus, y+ = 13.2. The integral
∂T ∂T 1 ∂ λ ∂T
u + vr − r − T ′ v′ =0 (6) in Equation (16) can be split into two parts:
∂x ∂r r ∂r ρ ∂r
∫ 13.2 ∫ y+
This study assumes that the air flow state in the traffic tunnel is in the T+ = Pr dy+ +
1 − y/r0 +
dy (17)
fully developed section. Then, vr = 0 and u depends only on r. When heat 0 13.2 εH /ν
transfer turbulent diffusivity εH = − T ′ v′ /(∂T /∂r) is introduced based on Then, introducing the turbulent Prandtl number PrT = εM /εH , and
the mixing-length and eddy diffusivity methods, Equation (6) can be assuming that PrT is a constant, Equation (17) can be transformed into:
simplified as follows: ∫ ∫
13.2 y+
1 − y/r0 +
∂T 1 ∂
[ (
λ
)
∂T
] T+ = Pr dy+ + PrT dy (18)
u = r + εH (7) 0 13.2 εM /ν
∂x r ∂r ρ ∂r
By the Reichardt equation [44]:
Furthermore, the dimensionless temperature ((T0 − T)/ (T0 − Tm )) ( )[ ( )2 ]
profile is independent of x in the fully developed section. Then, its εM κy+ r r
= 1+ 1+2 (19)
mathematical expression [44] is as follows: ν 6 r0 r0
( )
∂ T0 − T
=
(T0 − Tm ) ∂
(T0 − T) −
(T0 − T) ∂
(T0 − Tm ) = 0 (8) Taking the von Karman constant κ = 0.40 and the turbulent Prandtl
∂x T0 − Tm (T0 − Tm )2 ∂x (T0 − Tm )2 ∂x number PrT = 0.90, the integral result [44] in Equation (18) is:
⎡ ⎤
Under the constant heat flow boundary condition, the following ( )
relationship can be established: ⎢ 1.5 1 + rr ⎥
⎢ 0 ⎥
T + = 13.2 Pr + 2.25 ln⎢y+ ( )2 ⎥ − 5.8 (20)
∂T dT0 dTm ⎣ ⎦
= = (9) 1 + 2 rr0
∂x dx dx
Also, since the turbulent velocity profile is flat, an approximation can Assuming that T+ at the centerline of the tunnel is Tc+ , then the
be made as follows u = V, where V is the air average velocity in the expression of Tc+ is:
tunnel, and V is a constant. Then, through the variable transformation ( )
y = r0 − r, the turbulent boundary layer model [44] for the air flow field Tc+ = 13.2 Pr + 2.25 ln 1.5r0+ − 5.8 (21)
in the tunnel can be established: According to the energy conservation law, there is the following
dTm 1 ∂
[ (
λ
)
∂T
] relationship:
V = (r0 − y) + εH (10) √̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅
dx r0 − y ∂y ρ ∂y (T c − t0 ) τ0 /ρ
Tc+ = (22)
The boundary conditions are as follows: q/ρc

y = 0T = T0 (11) Based on the physical meaning of fluid mechanics, the following

relationships [44] exist:
∂T √̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅ √̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅
/
y = r0 =0 (12) τ0 /ρ = V cf 2 (23)
∂y
By integrating twice, the final temperature formula can be expressed q = α(T0 − Tm ) (24)
as:
∫ √̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅ √̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅
y r0 τ0 /ρ Re /
T − T0 = −
r0 V dTm 1 − y/r0
dy (13) = cf 2 (25)
2 dx 0 λ/ρ + εH ν 2

The energy conservation law in a control volume along the tunnel 2r0 α
Nu = (26)
requires that the amount of convective heat transfer between the airflow λ
and the rock wall is equal to the amount of internal energy change in the According to equations (21)–(26), the theoretical analytical solution
control volume; then, the equation [44] can be described as: of Nu is:
2πr0 qdx = − πr02 V ρcdtm (14) √̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅
/
(T c − T0 )RePr cf 2
Nu = √̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅ (27)
or: [ ( / )
(Tm − T0 ) 13.2 Pr + 2.25 ln 0.75Re cf 2 − 5.8
]

ρcr0 V dTm
q= − (15) At moderate Reynolds numbers, the velocity and temperature can be
2 dx
approximated by 1/7 power equation when Pr ≈ 1.00. The current
Referring to the new dimensionless independent variables y+ = analyzed fluid is air (Pr = 0.71); thus, the 1/7th power equation to
approximate the temperature curve is valid. Then, the temperature

4
J. Guo et al. International Journal of Thermal Sciences 184 (2023) 107949

curve can be expressed [44] as:

( )1/7
u r
= 1− (28)
uc r0
( )1/7
T − T0 r
= 1− (29)
T c − T0 r0
∫ r0
From Tm = 2/Vr02 0
urTdr, integrating Equation (29) can obtain:
Tm − T0
= 0.833 (30)
T c − T0

Nu can be expressed as:

√̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅
/
RePr cf 2
Nu = [ ( √̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅
/ ) ] (31) Fig. 7. Picture of the traffic tunnel.
0.833 13.2 Pr + 2.25 ln 0.75Re cf 2 − 5.8

The friction coefficient [44] cf can be calculated as follows:

Hydraulic smooth surface
/
cf 2 = 0.023Re− 0.2
(32)

Fully rough surface

[ ( ) ]− 2
/ D
cf 2 = 2.46 ln + 3.22 (33)
ks

3. Experimental methodology

A field test was conducted at the Shisanling Hydropower Station (SSL

Hydropower Station), which is located in Beijing, China. The SSL hy­
dropower station has a total installed capacity of 800,000 kW and is a
pumped-storage hydropower station. An isometric view of the SSL hy­
dropower station is shown in Fig. 4, which provides information on the
building structure and layout of the hydropower station. The under­
ground powerhouse of the SSL Hydropower Station is primarily
composed of the main powerhouse, the auxiliary powerhouse, the main
transformer cavern chamber, the busbar corridor, and the tailrace gate
chamber. In addition, there is a traffic tunnel to introduce fresh outdoor
air into the underground cavern and an exhaust tunnel to exhaust the
dirty air from the underground cavern to the outside. The traffic tunnel
has an important energy-saving effect on the ventilation and air-
conditioning systems of hydropower stations, so this study focuses on
the traffic tunnel, which is marked in red in Fig. 4.
Fig. 8. Dimensions of the traffic tunnel.
station is mechanically ventilated, and the outdoor air is fed into the
main powerhouse through the traffic tunnel. The traffic tunnel plays a
role in air conditioning and supply. The traffic tunnel is an underground
arched building structure approximately 7.5 m wide and 6.0 m high with
an average burial depth of approximately 70 m, and its real length is
1104 m. Since the air temperature in the traffic tunnel near the main
powerhouse is affected by the main powerhouse, the 0–1000 m of the
traffic tunnel is the primary region of interest in this study. The real
picture and dimensions of the traffic tunnel are shown in Fig. 7 and
Fig. 8, respectively.

3.2. Measurement point distribution and testing process

3.1. Physical model
The powerhouse of the SSL Hydropower Station is a deep-buried
underground powerhouse, and the overall layout of the hydropower
station is shown in Fig. 6. The main powerhouse of the hydropower
Fig. 6. Isometric diagram of the SSL hydropower station.
In order to clarify the heat transfer potential of the traffic tunnel, the
overall goal of the measurements must be developed. Based on the
deeply buried underground heat transfer model, as shown in equation
(5), the air temperature at the exit and entrance of the traffic tunnel as
well as the air and wall temperatures along with the underground traffic
tunnel must be obtained simultaneously. The measurement profiles
were designated at the entrance, 5 m, 30 m, 60 m, 90 m, 170 m, 340 m,
510 m, 680 m, and 850 m along the traffic tunnel, and at the traffic
tunnel exit, as shown in Fig. 9 (a). Measurement points in each profile
were evenly arranged, as shown in Fig. 9 (b). In addition, the air velocity
in the traffic tunnel should also be measured. According to the mass
conservation law, the amount of air entering the traffic tunnel from the
entrance should be equal to the amount of air entering the underground
power station from the exit. Since the cross-sectional area of the SSL
traffic tunnel is constant along the tunnel, the air velocity obtained from
the typical cross-section of the traffic tunnel can represent the air ve­
locity in the traffic tunnel. In this study, the measurement profile of 510
m is considered to be the typical profile for measuring the air velocity.
The high-precision standard thermometer (RL002 automatic tem­
perature recorder) was hung in a relatively shady location at the

5
J. Guo et al. International Journal of Thermal Sciences 184 (2023) 107949

Fig. 9. Layout of measurement points of the traffic tunnel. (a) Longitudinal arrangement of the measurement profiles; (b) Section A-A: measurement points in each
measurement profile(•:measurement point).

entrance of the traffic tunnel to collect the outdoor air temperature, with
an accuracy of ±0.3 ◦ C. American Raytek P800615 infrared thermode­
tectors were chosen to acquire the wall temperatures at each measure­
ment profile in the traffic tunnel with an accuracy of ±0.01 ◦ C.
American TSI8386A hand-held hot-wire thermodetector with an accu­
racy of ±0.1 ◦ C was selected to measure the air temperature in the traffic
tunnel. At each gauging point, air temperature data were collected and
average values were used at the same profile. These temperature test
values were recorded every hour. Moreover, the air velocity in the traffic
tunnel was obtained by measuring the air velocity at 510 m of the
measurement profile by TSI8386A with an accuracy of ±0.01 m/s.

3.3. Data processing method

Although the air temperature decays exponentially along the traffic

tunnel, the air temperature distribution in the traffic tunnel is different
due to the different working conditions of the ventilation and air con­
ditioning in the main powerhouse. In order to compare the changing
ventilation and air conditioning temperature data under uniform con­ Fig. 10. Air temperature test results in the traffic tunnel of the SSL under­
ditions, this study introduces the dimensionless temperature as follows: ground hydropower station.

Tf (x) − Tw
θ= (34)
T0 − Tw
In addition, the dimensionless distance from the entrance of the
traffic tunnel can be calculated as follows:
x
x∗ = (35)
L

4. Results and discussion

Based on the field test results of the SSL hydropower station, the
changes of air temperature in the underground traffic tunnel with time
and along the route are analyzed. To obtain an accurate convective heat
transfer coefficient, we verify the established convective heat transfer
coefficient model based on existing research results. Dimensionless field
test results of the underground traffic tunnel and the heat transfer model
are compared. Based on the above dimensionless comparison, the air
temperature distribution model of the underground traffic tunnel of the
SSL hydropower station is established. Via mathematical calculus
transformation, the effective and optimal heat transfer length equations Fig. 11. Average air temperature in the traffic tunnel of the SSL underground
hydropower station.
are established, and then the heat transfer performance of the under­
ground traffic tunnel of the SSL hydropower station is analyzed.
29 to Sep 2, as shown in Fig. 10. In order to facilitate the study of the
distribution law of air temperature along the traffic tunnel, this study
4.1. Experimental results and analysis
plots the average data of air temperature at the same time in 5 days in
Fig. 11.
Field testing of the SSL hydropower plant lasted five days from Aug

6
J. Guo et al. International Journal of Thermal Sciences 184 (2023) 107949

The test results show that the air temperature at the entrance of the
traffic tunnel approximates a simple harmonic fluctuation with time.
The peak air temperature at the entrance occurred at approximately
14:00 p.m. and 4:00 a.m., and the highest and lowest average temper­
atures of the air were 29.4 ◦ C and 20.2 ◦ C, respectively. Air temperature
fluctuations weakened along the traffic tunnel. At the outlet of the test
profile, the highest and lowest average temperatures of the air were
23.4 ◦ C and 22.2 ◦ C, respectively. The difference in air temperature
fluctuation over time is only 1.2 ◦ C at the outlet, which is not significant.
In addition, at the same time, especially when the peaks and troughs
occur, the air temperature approximately decays or increases exponen­
tially along the traffic tunnel, which is similar to the variation law
described by the traffic tunnel heat transfer calculation model. The air
average temperature dropped from 29.4 ◦ C to 23.4 ◦ C at 14:00 and
increased from 20.2 ◦ C to 22.2 ◦ C at 4:00 in 5 days, and the air tem­
perature decay curve has been marked in red in Figs. 10 and 11.
Therefore, when establishing the heat transfer model of the traffic tun­
nel, this study assumes that the heat transfer between the air and the Fig. 13. Comparison of Nu under constant heat flow and constant wall tem­
rock wall in the tunnel is a steady-state condition, and the effect of time perature boundary conditions [44].
on the temperature distribution in the traffic tunnel is ignored. In order
to analyze the above variation law of the test data under the same
condition, this study carried out a dimensionless analysis of the air
temperature distribution in the traffic tunnel in the following research.

4.2. Convective heat transfer coefficient model validation

From the solution process of the convective heat transfer coefficient

model, the above model is shown to only be suitable for the constant
heat flow boundary conditions. However, the test data found that the
tunnel wall temperature did not change much along the traffic tunnel;
thus, the wall temperature of the traffic tunnel was set to 22.3 ◦ C, as
shown in Fig. 12. Through investigation, it is found that when Pr ≈ 1, the
difference between the convective heat transfer coefficient results under
the boundary conditions of constant heat flow and constant wall tem­
perature were found to be only a few percentage points, and the dif­
ference was even lower at higher Pr. The flowing fluid in the traffic
tunnel is air (Pr = 0.7). Therefore, the difference in the air temperature
Fig. 14. Comparison of Nu calculation models for hydraulically
distribution results in the traffic tunnel is small under the boundary
smooth surface.
conditions of constant heat flow and constant wall temperature. This
result verifies that the abovementioned convective heat transfer coeffi­
cient model is effective for heat transfer calculations in traffic tunnels as
shown in Fig. 13.
Nu computational models can be obtained based on theoretical
analysis, experimental testing, field testing, data fitting or correlation, as
shown in Table 1. The comparisons of Equation (31) with some

Fig. 15. Comparison of Nu calculation models for fully rough surface.

experimental data and for air are shown in Fig. 14 and Fig. 15. The
comparisons found that data agree over the indicated range of Reynolds
numbers for hydraulically smooth and fully rough surfaces.

Fig. 12. Wall temperatures of the traffic tunnel.

7
J. Guo et al. International Journal of Thermal Sciences 184 (2023) 107949

4.3. Dimensionless analysis of air temperature along a traffic tunnel

According to the section size of the underground traffic tunnel, the

perimeter L and area F of the section are calculated to be 42.71 m and
25.39 m2, respectively, and the hydraulic diameter is 3.36 m. The air
flow average velocity is approximately 0.8 m/s by measuring the air
velocity at 510 m. Then the ventilation volume of the underground
traffic tunnel is 40 m3/s according to the conservation of mass. The
Reynolds number Re is 2.18 × 105 calculated by the Reynolds number
definition formula. The wall of the traffic tunnel is plastered with
cement, and the rock wall is smooth. However, lighting and wire pipes,
etc. are installed along the traffic tunnel. In this study, the roughness is 0
m and 0.01 m in the calculations, and the Nu is 299.2 and 339.6 in the
hydraulically smooth and completely rough cases, respectively. There­
fore, the convective heat transfer coefficients are 2.31 W m− 2 K− 1 and
4.05 W m− 2 K− 1 under the smooth and rough conditions by Equation
(26), respectively. Applying the above parameters to Equation (5), the
air temperature distribution model of the SSL underground power sta­
tion under smooth and rough conditions is:
Smooth condition Fig. 16. Experimental and theoretical results comparison of the dimensionless
air temperature.
Tf (x) = Tw − (Tw − T0 )e− 3.979×10− 3 x
(36)
increases, the air temperature decreases at a slower rate. This shows that
Rough condition
the cooling effect of the tunnel on the air is weakened. In order to
Tf (x) = Tw − (Tw − T0 )e− 6.976×10− 3 x
(37) analyze the cooling effect of the underground traffic tunnel on the air
introduced into the underground space, this paper defines the effective
The air and wall temperatures at the inlet and outlet collected by TSI heat exchange length and the optimal heat exchange length.
are listed in Table 2. Using Equation (5), the real convective heat The effective heat transfer length xEff can be expressed as:
transfer coefficient can be obtained, as shown in Table 2. Then, the air
temperature distribution model of the SSL underground power station xEff = −
ρcp um F
ln
ΔTEff
=−
1 F
ln
ΔTEff
(39)
obtained from the test results can be expressed as: αU T0 − Tw St U T0 − Tw
Test condition In engineering applications, while considering the influence of eco­
Tf (x) = Tw − (Tw − T0 )e− 5.719×10− 3 x
(38) nomic factors, it is impossible to dig a corridor that is sufficiently long to
make the end air temperature equal to the wall temperature. When the
Equations from (36) to (38) and the air temperature in the traffic end air temperature is near the wall temperature, the corridor length can
tunnel (data in Fig. 11) are dimensionless and plotted in Fig. 16. The test be considered sufficient. Thus, the effective length has been reached,
data at different times can be compared under the same conditions after and the heat transfer effect of the corridor can be ignored if the length is
being dimensionless. Fig. 16 shows that the dimensionless air temper­ longer. If the proximity is measured by the parameter ΔTEff , when Δ
ature decays exponentially along the traffic tunnel. The heat transfer TEff < 0.5 ◦ C, the corridor can be considered to have reached the optimal
model under smooth conditions can describe the exponential decay law length, and ΔTEff can be determined according to the engineering
along the traffic tunnel, but it is different from the experimental data. accuracy.
The heat transfer model under rough conditions agrees with the test The optimal heat transfer length xOpt can be expressed as:
data, and the difference between the heat transfer model under rough
conditions and the heat transfer model under test conditions is not sig­ xOpt = −
ρcp um F ΔTOpt
ln (40)
nificant. This proves that the convective heat transfer coefficient αU T0 − Tw
calculated by the theory can accurately predict the heat transfer be­ Then, ΔTOpt can be calculated as follows:
tween the air and the rock wall in the traffic tunnel.
[ ]′
Tf (x) − Tw αU − αU Tf (x) − Tw
(41)
αUL x
η(x) = =− e ρcp um F L
=−
4.4. Analysis of the heat transfer performance of an underground traffic T0 − Tw x
L
ρcp um FL ρcp um FL T0 − Tw
tunnel
According to Fig. 16, as x increases, the rate of change of the air
temperature decreases; thus, the slope of the air temperature curve de­
Underground traffic tunnels have the effect of heating and cooling
creases. In this paper, the slope of the air temperature curve is consid­
the outdoor temperature in winter and summer, but this effect is limited.
ered to be − 0.577 (tan( − π /6)). When x < xη=− 0.577 , the air temperature
Considering summer as an example, after the outside air enters the
underground environment from the tunnel entrance, the air temperature regulation efficiency of the underground traffic tunnel is high; when
is cooled by the traffic tunnel. The air temperature tends to the tunnel x > xη=− 0.577 , the air temperature regulation efficiency of the under­
wall temperature. According to Equation (5), when x tends to ∞, the air ground traffic tunnel is low. In engineering, the value of η(x) can be
temperature and the wall temperature tend to be equal; thus, the air selected according to the real situation and accuracy requirements. Then
temperature and the wall temperature are theoretically unequal. As x the optimal heat transfer length xOpt becomes as:
[ ] [ ]
ρc p u m F η(x)ρcp um F 1 F 1 F ( )
xOpt = − ln − =− ln − η xopt (42)
Table 2 αU αU St U St UL
Air temperature and wall temperature at the entrance and exit.
Both xEff and xOpt are related to the slope St⋅U/F of the logarithmic
Air temperature/◦ C Wall temperature/◦ C Nu α/W⋅m− 2⋅K− 1
curve of the dimensionless temperature as shown in Fig. 17. And ac­
Entrance Exit Entrance Exit cording to equations (39) and (42), xEff and xOpt decrease as the slope St⋅
29.44 23.36 24.60 22.70 430.96 3.32 U/F increases. Taking the SSL underground power station as an

8
J. Guo et al.
Fig. 17. Experimental and theoretical results comparison of the logarithmic
dimensionless air temperature.
example, t0 is assumed approximately equal to the calculated outdoor
ventilation temperature of 30 ◦ C in summer. xEff and xOpt calculated by
equations (39) and (42) are 1545 m and 628 m under the operating
conditions of the SSL underground power station, respectively. The total
length of the SSL underground traffic tunnel is 1104 m, which shows
that the SSL underground traffic tunnel can cool down or preheat the air
well under operating conditions.
4.5. Uncertainty analysis of the experiments
The uncertainty of velocity measurements was of the order of 0.01
m/s using the TSI8386A. The random error was approximately 0.02 m/s
due to the stability of experiments. Thus, the total uncertainty for ve­
locity measurements was estimated to be lower than or equal to 0.03 m/
s. The absolute uncertainty for average velocity measurements was
approximately 3.75%. Furthermore, the uncertainty of temperature
measurements with RL002 automatic temperature recorder and Amer­
ican Raytek P800615 was of the order of 0.3 ◦ C and 0.01 ◦ C, respec­
tively. Thus, the total uncertainty of the temperature measurements was
estimated to be less than 0.4 ◦ C, and the temperature difference at the
same measurement point with repeated experiments was less than 1 ◦ C.
The absolute uncertainty for temperature measurements was between
3.40% and 4.95%. Accordingly, the uncertainty while evaluating the
absolute uncertainty for the convective heat transfer coefficient was
between 3% and 6%. And the uncertainty was less than 10% while
evaluating the absolute uncertainty for the effective and optimal heat
transfer lengths.
5. Limitations
This study also has some limitations. Firstly, to establish the math­
ematical models of heat transfer and convective heat transfer coefficient
for a deeply buried underground tunnel, a series of assumptions are
made in the mathematical model calculations. In addition, this study
only conducts field tests on the underground traffic tunnels of the SSL
hydropower station, which results that the generalizability of the
mathematical models are limited. We need to conduct more field tests of
different hydropower stations to verify the generalizability of the
mathematical model. In the future, we will address these limitations.
6. Conclusions
In this study, a theoretical model of heat transfer in an underground
9
International Journal of Thermal Sciences 184 (2023) 107949
traffic tunnel was established based on heat conservation. The theoret­
ical solution of the convective heat transfer coefficient is obtained by the
boundary layer theory, and the effect of roughness on the convective
heat transfer is considered. The air temperature distribution in the traffic
tunnel was tested on site. The comparison shows that the theoretical
solution and the field test results are in good agreement. Based on this,
the completed underground traffic tunnels are investigated, and the
primary conclusions of this study can be summarized as follows:
(1) The distribution law of air temperature in the deep underground
traffic tunnel was tested on-site at the SSL Hydropower Station.
The air temperature fluctuates periodically with time, and the
peak and trough temperatures occurred at 2:00 p.m. and 4:00 a.
m., which were 29.4 ◦ C and 20.2 ◦ C at the entrance, respectively.
Additionally, air temperature fluctuations weaken along the
traffic tunnel, and the maximum temperature difference is 1.2 ◦ C
at the outlet. Concurrently, in summer, the air temperature
approximately decreases exponentially from 29.4 ◦ C to 23.4 ◦ C at
14:00 and increases exponentially from 20.2 ◦ C to 22.2 ◦ C at 4:00
along the tunnel, respectively.
(2) This study provides a simple model for calculating the air tem­
perature distribution in a deep underground traffic tunnel, as
shown in Equation (43). The air dimensionless temperature de­
cays exponentially along the underground tunnel. The compari­
son of field test and theoretical calculation results found that the
calculation model provide accurate air temperature distribution
prediction in deep-buried underground traffic tunnels.
Tf (x) = Tw − (Tw − T0 )e− StUx
F (43)
(3) Based on the boundary layer theory, the convective heat transfer
coefficient model suitable for the deep underground traffic tunnel
was established, as shown in Equation (44). Through the
boundary layer theory, the convective heat transfer coefficient is
theoretically solved in this research. According to the above
model, the convective heat transfer coefficients of SSL Hydro­
power Station are 2.31 W m− 2 K− 1, 4.05 W m− 2 K− 1, and 3.32 W
m− 2 K− 1 under smooth, rough, and test conditions, respectively.
The results show that it is consistent with real heat transfer
condition.
√̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅
/
cf 2
St = [ ( √̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅̅
/ ) ] (44)
0.833 13.2 Pr + 2.25 ln 0.75Re cf 2 − 5.8
(4) Finally, this paper conducts an effective heat transfer analysis
combined with the established simple calculation model for the
traffic tunnel of the SSL underground power station. The effective
and the optimal heat transfer lengths are defined. Via calcula­
tions, the effective and optimal heat transfer lengths of the SSL
underground traffic tunnel were determined to equal 1545 m and
628 m, respectively. And they are all related to the slope of the
logarithmic dimensionless temperature curve and decrease as the
slope increases.
Declaration of competing interest
The authors declare that they have no known competing financial
interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence
the work reported in this paper.
Data availability
Data will be made available on request.
J. Guo et al.
Acknowledgements
This work has been funded by the National Natural Science Foun­
dation of China (NSFC) (NO. 51978555).
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