ROOM INTEGRITY TEST

Why Clean Agent Systems?

Water-based suppression systems provide only a minimum amount of fire protection. For critical company information
systems, data centers, paper archives, museums and other enclosures whose contents are susceptible to water damage,
sprinkler systems will indeed protect the building from fire damage, but at the expense of the contents being protected!

It was due to this necessity to provide sufficient fire protection for the building and also to mitigate or eliminate damage
to the contents that non-water-based suppression systems were introduced. Inert Gases were one of these fire
suppressants. Inert Gases presented a new problem to the designer however; to extinguish a fire and to keep it
suppressed, the gas needed to be present in the enclosure for many minutes.

Enclosures now had to be “tight” enough to retain the Gas in sufficient concentration and for sufficient time to ensure
that re-ignition did not occur.

The Discharge Test

Prior to 1988, the capability of an enclosure to retain its fire suppressant was assessed by a Discharge Test. Sensors that
detected fire suppressant concentration were installed at various points of interest around the room and then the fire
suppressant system was discharged. During the discharge, these sensors where monitored, usually with strip-chart
recorders. A room would pass or fail the test by examining the agent concentration at the top of the equipment over
time. The room passed the test if sufficient agent concentration was present after the required hold time at the top of
the equipment. In the event that the room failed, usually the only recourse was for a sealing job to be undertaken and
then, for the discharge test to be repeated.

Even today, the discharge test is of limited use due to:

1) High Cost: Costs of labor and product to repeatedly recharge system is high.

2) Disruption: Discharge test is very disruptive to occupied enclosures.

3) Failure Identification: In the event of failure, the discharge test offers no opportunity to identify leak locations.

4) Repeat Testing: Although the Standards encourage annual retest, the above factors virtually preclude any retesting

Room Integrity Test

Towards the end of the discharge era, several progressive installers found a unique way to ensure that they would
always pass the discharge test. They used a fan mounted in a doorway to create pressure which in turn allowed them to
locate hidden leaks using chemical smoke. When the leaks were sealed, the room would always pass the discharge test.
It worked so well that the discharge test has now been replaced by the Door-Fan Test. NFPA 2001, NFPA 12A, and ISO
14520 now all require an enclosure integrity test as part of the acceptance procedure for all clean agent systems,
including all halocarbon and inert gas agents. This comprehensive test and calculation procedure predicts how long the
agent will stay in the room if it were ever discharged.
 
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 What are Air Leakage / Room Integrity Testing?

A room integrity test is all about testing the room’s structure, its air leakage rate and more importantly its ability to
hold fire suppressant gases. Room integrity testing is a means of predicting the retention time and leakiness of a
room without having to release the extinguishing gas itself. Room integrity tests calculate the air tightness and
amount of air leakage in a room from the difference in pressure when tested.

Integrity tests also predict how long fire suppressant agents take to descend to a given level in the room. A retention
time of 10 minutes is the normal minimum period the suppressant agents are required to be retained for. Ten
minutes is long enough for most deep-seated fires to be cooled so that re-ignition is unlikely. All room integrity
tests conform to the guidelines set out in NFPA2001 and ISO 14520. It is applicable to all sizes of enclosure and all
extinguishing gases. The Enclosure Integrity Test’s primary goal is to predict the enclosure’s retention time in the
event that the Fire Suppression System is discharged.

What Equipment is involved in Room Integrity Testing?

1. Variable Speed Fan

2. Expandable door panels

3. Manometer

4. A dedicated Portable computer

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 What Happens During Room Integrity Testing?

The door fan equipment is located in a doorway to create small pressure differentials between the enclosure
and surrounding areas. Pressure and airflow measurements are made, from which the leakage
characteristics of the enclosure are established.

First the room is pressurized, readings taken, then afterwards to check those measurements the room is
depressurized to take measurements to compare. The predicted retention time is calculated from these leakage
characteristics and the enclosure and extinguishing system data.

Procedure:

Pre-requisites:

1. The room under test should be completely isolated from the adjacent rooms.
2. The Room’s Complete Fire Suppression System Design detail must be shared with the Tester.
3. All visible potential openings, holes which can enable leakage are sealed permanently.
4. The Door dimensions of the Room under test shall be made available.
5. The Pipe Shop Layout Drawing should be made available to the Tester.
6. AHU / AC should be shut down during Testing, the Shutdown Scheduling and approval from
concerned authorities should be obtained in advance.
7. The Authorized Witness from the Client should be nominated.
8. 15 Amp RAW Power Supply must be made available near to the Room.
9. Any Safety Requirements / Company Policies and any other Specific requirements of the Site
Owner should be notified to the Tester.
After Addressing all the perquisites and Tester studies the input details, and may suggest any specific requirements
that needs to be addressed prior testing.

RIT Steps:

1. All AHU / ACs in the room under test will be shut down.
2. The tester will decide the direction of the test.
3. The Door of the room under test will be sealed with ‘Door Fan Test Panels / Plastic Sheet’.
4. Minute holes if any will be closed with the use of seal tapes.
5. The Room Integrity Test Blower Fan will be fitted on the Panel.
6. All necessary capillary tube and power cable are connected.
7. The Fan is switched ON with the help of the Controller.
8. Prior to running the Fan, All the design details are entered in the room integrity Software installed in the
Computer.
9. The room is pressurized, up to the test pressure as specified in the software.
10. The pressure and flow rates readings are noted.
11. Similarly the room is depressurized and pressure & flow rate readings are taken.
12. The noted readings are entered in the Room Integrity software.
13. The Software will give the predicted leakage area in the room along with retention time.
14. If the retention time is above 10 Minute (NFPA 2001:2012 Clause 5.6), the room passes the test.

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 Safety:

• The test shall be witnessed from a safe distance.

• Power Supply to the testing devices shall be provided with emergency fuse or tripping device.
• Safety helmet shall be worn all time while working by test personnel.
• Use safety Ladders and safety belts while working at height.
• Always ensure that the work area is clean and safe.

Cloth panel

DM32 digital gauge

Umbilical cable

Fan

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Topaz Fire Systems Pvt. Ltd., reserves the right to change or modify without TOPAZ FIRE SYSTEMS PVT. LTD.
previous notice any data or specification due to changes or modification in #143 Part B-7, Bommasandra Industrial Area,
order to improve the product presented. Bangalore 560 099 TeleFax: 080 – 4165 8921