Room Integrity Fan Test/Door Fan Test


Upon completion of sealing a protected room, Integrity Room Systems performs a Room Integrity Fan Test to ensure the protected room will hold the agent for the required amount of time. NFPA 2001, Standard on Clean Agent Fire Extinguishing Systems, requires that a minimum concentration of 85% of the adjusted minimum design concentration be held at the highest level of combustibles for a minimum period of 10 minutes.


Procedure for Room Integrity Fan Test:


  • The room is sealed in advance and we temporarily install a large fan in the doorway of the room to be tested.The door fan unit is fitted into a doorway of the protected area by means of the expandable door panels designed to fit most door frame sizes, and measures the size of holes in the enclosure and the pressures that may exist across them.The fan speed is adjusted to obtain a steady pressure between the test area and the volume surrounding the test area (equivalent to the column weight exerted by the extinguishing agent following a discharge). This pressure is then maintained while readings are taken from pressure gauges.

  • The readings,pressure and airflow, are then entered into a computer that is designed to calculate the ELA(equivalent leakage area) for the room.In rooms with a suspended ceiling the BCLA(below ceiling leakage area) is calculated as 1/2 the total ELA and is used in the calculations for retention time.

  • Gaseous chemical agents are typically heavier than air,therefore, the agent will leak out of any lower level penetrations if left unsealed.

  • The door fan test will always calculate the the worse case leakage for the room.Air is drawn through the leaks in the room and under the floor as well as above suspended ceilings to predict the descending interface of the suppression agent. The length of time it takes for the descending interface to reach the minimum protected height identifies the concentration hold time.

 

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