TY - JOUR
T1 - Pilot study on the construction of several temperature-controlled multi-purpose rooms in a disused tunnel
AU - Sugai, Yuichi
AU - Sasaki, Kyuro
AU - Yoshimura, Keigo
AU - Yukitake, Toshinori
AU - Muta, Shigenori
N1 - Funding Information:
This study had been performed within the framework of regional collaboration projects funded by the social cooperation promotion division of Kyushu University. We would like to express our thanks to the intellectual property management center of Kyushu University (IMAQ) for supporting the collaborative research between Kyushu University and the city of Karatsu, Saga, Japan. Special thanks are due to Mr. K. Inoue for his effort in beginning this collaborative research.
PY - 2012/11
Y1 - 2012/11
N2 - Throughout the world, schemes for putting to use abandoned underground spaces are being pursued. We describe one such pilot scheme involving the utilization of a disused tunnel of an uncompleted railway line that has been revamped as a facility housing temperature-controlled multi-purpose rooms. In all, four rooms were constructed and installed with both indoor and outdoor air conditioning units. Testing of the facility was conducted over a 1-year period to establish operating criteria and to monitor for operating stability. The four rooms were finally maintained at different constant-temperature regimes: cold (5. °C), cool (13. °C), mild (21. °C), and warm (32. °C) with such low power consumption of 0.80. kW because of the nature of the subterranean site. Compared with typical surface facilities, this facility offers an obvious advantage in lower energy consumption. Monitoring of the humidity in the rooms revealed that preventing evaporation from the bare soil surface in the tunnel was the more important factor in controlling humidity in this facility. The heat transfer analysis of this facility was carried out through the computational analysis using a computational model constructed in this study. Computational analysis showed that the heat insulation property of the tunnel wall was reinforced by prolonged operation and the cost of operating facility became lower with the operation time. In addition, we demonstrated the procedure to estimate the overall heat transmission coefficients of the tunnel wall which was a great help in the design of similar facilities in underground spaces. The different rooms in the facility are expected to be used for manufacturing fermented foods and drinks depending on temperature and humidity requirements. Not only running costs but also initial costs are expected to be lower than those for surface facilities; for this reason, our system has been demonstrated to be economically viable as well as environment friendly.
AB - Throughout the world, schemes for putting to use abandoned underground spaces are being pursued. We describe one such pilot scheme involving the utilization of a disused tunnel of an uncompleted railway line that has been revamped as a facility housing temperature-controlled multi-purpose rooms. In all, four rooms were constructed and installed with both indoor and outdoor air conditioning units. Testing of the facility was conducted over a 1-year period to establish operating criteria and to monitor for operating stability. The four rooms were finally maintained at different constant-temperature regimes: cold (5. °C), cool (13. °C), mild (21. °C), and warm (32. °C) with such low power consumption of 0.80. kW because of the nature of the subterranean site. Compared with typical surface facilities, this facility offers an obvious advantage in lower energy consumption. Monitoring of the humidity in the rooms revealed that preventing evaporation from the bare soil surface in the tunnel was the more important factor in controlling humidity in this facility. The heat transfer analysis of this facility was carried out through the computational analysis using a computational model constructed in this study. Computational analysis showed that the heat insulation property of the tunnel wall was reinforced by prolonged operation and the cost of operating facility became lower with the operation time. In addition, we demonstrated the procedure to estimate the overall heat transmission coefficients of the tunnel wall which was a great help in the design of similar facilities in underground spaces. The different rooms in the facility are expected to be used for manufacturing fermented foods and drinks depending on temperature and humidity requirements. Not only running costs but also initial costs are expected to be lower than those for surface facilities; for this reason, our system has been demonstrated to be economically viable as well as environment friendly.
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=84865663492&partnerID=8YFLogxK
UR - http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0886779812001198
U2 - 10.1016/j.tust.2012.06.009
DO - 10.1016/j.tust.2012.06.009
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:84865663492
VL - 32
SP - 180
EP - 189
JO - Underground Space
JF - Underground Space
SN - 0886-7798
ER -
