LMXLED design illumination solutions for many sectors like sport and retail but also industry, including development and operation of infrastructure – like underground assets, such on tunnel projects like HS2.
T&T had a conversation with the company about topics that need addressed in the design of LED lighting products for tunnels.
T&T: What are the needs of lighting/illumination in different areas of tunnels (incl construction, and operational services underground)? Where in the tunnels are the needs? How do they differ?
Darren Woodhouse (DW): In the construction phase, for the best safety aspect you need a uniform lighting effect with lighting levels complying with the parameters set out in British Standards, for example the tunnel standards are BS6164:2019, and also BS7671 and BS12464-2.
Generally, in the construction of tunnels, just after the boring and concreting, the main area of illumination will be the ingress and egress routes with a lighting level of at least 30lux being achieved, and, of course, providing a safe working environment. In the event that any further work needs to be carried out, this would require achieving at least 100lux, at the tunnel face and excavation areas. In areas with lifting operations you would, again, want at least 100lux.
Commonly used is the standard ‘string’ or ‘festoon’ stop-start lighting system, using non-corrosive light fittings. This can be quite harmful to the eyes and even to safety as it does not offer a uniform lighting effect, instead having gaps between the lighting points where it would be quite a lot darker.
There will also have to be a compliant emergency lighting system in place; we use our own specifically designed system, which substantially reduces cost compared with the standard string version that offers an emergency light every certain distance.
But there are many other applications for our INFINILED strip system, including shafts, vents, viaducts, bridges, anywhere a walkway or working area is to be lit up and for it to be installed extremely fast and easy. For example, we had to customise the colour temperature on a large viaduct walkway so it would not harm the vision of the bats flying in the vicinity, if you do not get the colour correct then it can be harmful to the local wildlife.
Q: What are the principles of lighting/ illumination used to address these different needs? Do they require quite different technical solutions, or have done in the past?
DW: Not really, the LED strip is quite a non-technical solution in that it is a constant line of light in a tunnel. Even if there are bends, then the flexibility of LED strip means that it will adapt to that situation, too. We also have a plug and play ‘festoon’ type solution, should the amount of illumination required be high, for example in larger project areas, where floodlights might be more suitable.
You can adjust the different levels in lighting levels required by simply using more strip. We could offer a design to achieve the compliant levels required for that task. The technical side is what goes on in the lab in producing INFINILED, and that it is reliable and fulfils the parameters required for temporary tunnel lighting, like using halogen-free housing, various voltage inputs, and that repairs can be carried out safely and quickly under live conditions by only replacing the section that failed.
The ingenious ring feed design guarantees functioning lighting even when severed, further reducing the need for repairs.
Q: Today, is energy use/sustainability a further factor in assessing how to provide lighting/ illumination? Is that spurring new R&D efforts, or product development? Is it also reducing energy and replacement costs, etc?
DW: For sure. We are constantly looking at ways we can make our INFINILED design a more efficient solution for tunnel lighting and, in turn, be more environmentally friendly. It definitely takes less power to run our system than standard ‘festoon types’ and over large distances this can then matter greatly.
We can have one emergency fitting every 50m, again reducing material demand and power consumption. Due to the design of our INFINILED strip and its ability to work over ultra-long distances, the distances between power sources can become greater, resulting in less material demand again for transformers, etc, and, of course, bringing costs down substantially in the overall design of the temporary lighting system. The main components are copper and silicone, both recyclable at the end of life.
Q: Where does your company focus services and products, and what types are available?
DW: We focus on lighting and have the ability to work with clients to offer them a fully customised lighting scheme to suit their project. We have designed the lighting for the portals on infrastructure projects. For example, the manufacturing units, these can have many different demands, like super high ceilings, extreme temperatures, lights required to run constantly, and so on.
We supply different sectors but have a strong foothold in infrastructure project lighting, and commercial and industrial lighting. We also have various different solutions for the upgrading and retro- fitting of tunnel lighting in the permanent, fixed phase, products with full 360-degree life cycle.
Q: What examples are there of tunnel projects with specific design or illumination needs underground that you have been able to solve/support/service?
DW: Design challenges would be the environmental temperature and that lighting is required 24-hours a day at a certain brightness over long distances and to incorporate an emergency lighting solution also.
With this in mind, we have incorporated many design features into our strip to bring the heat down; heat is the biggest enemy for LEDs. We can’t say what they all are but that is the primary thinking behind our thought process to offer such a long and reliable solution.
Low heat is at the heart of the tunnel strip design, INFINILED, so we can offer full warranty and cover large distances, with optimum brightness, and operating constantly underground for long periods of time.
We are very proud to have designed and supplied the temporary tunnel lighting systems on HS2 tunnels and viaducts with our INFINILED LED lighting strip and distribution systems. We worked on various different parts of the project, including the Chiltern Tunnel, Colne Valley viaduct and the Bromford tunnels. We used our 150m-long solution, so we could gain large distances of 300m between power sources, resulting in lower expenditure for the client.
Q: What were the options and how were the choices made to optimise the solutions?
DW: The common high voltage strip is simply not reliable enough over long distances and the requirement of working 24/7 for maybe over four years, for example. We went back to the lab and, through a series of tests, we were confident to offer a full warranty with our INFINILED solution.
To achieve these outcomes, the benefits and differences in the quality of our 110v, AC strip – especially compared to many other high voltage strips on the market – are we can achieve distances of 150m – and sustain for over four years. For that, we use genuine both Dow Corningpatented silicone housing and 3M tape (SGS-tested), respectively; and, highest quality chips on the market.
The 110v version is designed for tunnels and construction. And, if a DC version is used rather than AC then it will last for an even longer time, although it would not operate over such long distances.
