Modeling the occupant evacuation of the mass rapid transit station using the control volume model

In this study, a control volume model is applied to simulate the process of evacuation in mass rapid transit (MRT) station using different scenarios. The control volume model assumes that each individual is an independent particle. When the evacuation occupant flow is larger than the capacity of the exit so that a virtual closed surface called the control surface that can be formed by connecting the waiting occupants at the exit. The change of the control volume is dependent on the transient number of the waiting occupants only. Based on the homogeneous flow with neglecting the behavior of the individual, the dynamic change of the evacuation occupant at the exit of the platform and the concourse can be formulated and analyzed. In addition, the number and capacity of the exits used in the total evacuation time analysis were measured with the aid of video recording and on-site observations. Using the control volume model, the dynamic characteristics of the evacuation process at each time-step for each of the exits are calculated and discussed. Comparisons are also made with the results found from other studies and NFPA 130.