Butch Bautista – OSH Consultant, MBA, GM

Luce Global Environmental Health & Safety Specialist Inc.

Enclosure Integrity Testing – A Loss Control Program of Installed Gaseous Suppression System for Business Continuity

BACKGROUND

Gaseous Fire Suppression or Clean Agent fire suppression are terms to describe gases used to extinguish fires.

BACKGROUND

The gaseous suppression system that are used today are inert gas and halocarbon which requires compliance to NFPA 2001: Standard on Clean Agent Fire Extinguishing Systems, ISO 14520, EN 15004 & AS ISO 14520 standards.

Before 1988, all systems were discharge tested

Cost

Time consuming

Disruptive

Not environmentally friendly

Disadvantages:

OBJECTIVES

To maintain the effective duration of

protection

Predict enclosure’s retention time

Compliance of establishment to local

fire code

Effective deployment of extinguishing agents

Incentives for complying factory

mutual loss prevention best practices

Method – Door Fan Test

Measures leakage indirectly by

pressurize/depressurize enclosure to determine the total leakage area.

All gaseous extinguishing systems create negative and/or positive pressures on

discharge

•The magnitude of these pressures will be

dependent on how tight or how leaky the

enclosure is

• Comprehensive test and calculation

procedure predict retention time

Method – Door Fan Test

Method – Door Fan Test

Agent Loss Mechanisms

Agent Loss Mechanisms

Gas suppression behavior by elevation H/H0

Agent Loss Mechanism

Agent Loss Mechanism

Agent Loss Mechanism

Static Pressure

• HVAC systems

• Stack effect

• Leaky dampers

• Wind

• All agent is lost because of leakage in the enclosure

• Many forces can increase the pressure across leakage

• More pressure = More agent lost

Leakage Summary

FINDINGS

• More pressure to the enclosure has more agent lost and waste in the drain

• Extinguishment is not effective

Waste of Money

• Not complied to meet the minimum concentration of 85% held for 10 minutes

• Property damage prior to arrival of trained personnel

NFPA 2001 Standard concentration not met

• No way to assess whether the pressures on discharge will create a structural integrity problem of the enclosure.

• NFPA 2001, ISO 14520 and EN 15004 acceptance procedure for all clean agent systems not followed

Structural integrity not identified

NFPA 2001-2012 sections (paraphrased):

NFPA Requirements

5.1.2.2(28) Adequate pressure relief vent area

5.1.2.2 (10) Estimate of the maximum positive and maximum negative pressure, relative to ambient pressure, expected to be develop upon the discharge of agent.

5.3.3 Require pressurization/de-pressurization of the protected enclosure of other tests to ensure performance that meets the requirements of this standard

5.3.7 Structural strength and integrity necessary to contain the agent discharge

5.3.4 To prevent loss of agent through openings to adjacent hazards or work areas, openings shall be permanently sealed or equipped with automatic closures

5.6.1 Adjusted minimum design concentration of agent not only shall be achieved but also shall be maintained for the specified period of time

CONCLUSION

• Enclosure Integrity is a fundamental part of the overall system performance and should be treated seriously;

• It is a mandatory commissioning function for any gaseous extinguishing system that complies with ISO 14520, NFPA 2001 & EN 15004

• The test confirms whether the enclosure meet the Standard retention time of 10 minutes @ 85% concentration.

• Ensure structural integrity is assessed upon agent discharged.

CONCLUSION

• EPA, IRI, FM, other insurers, fire suppression equipment manufacturers, and the FSSA encourages door fan tests on every installation & every year;

• Application of Room Integrity testing are not limited to power generation, manufacturing, telecommunication facilities, motor control center, DCS, clean rooms, cable tray, data processing centers and museums

Enclosure/room integrity testing is your loss control program for business

continuity where high value and vital business operations are involved.

Enclosure Integrity Testing In Action

Accreditation

LuceGlobal is a Certified Level 1,2 & 3 Enclosure Integrity Tester by Retrotec https://retrotec.com/ Email : sales@luceglobal.com.ph

Reference: • Colin.G and co-Author Anthony.S: Clean Agent Enclosure Design for ISO 14520 & AS4212. rev-2013-03.

• Fire Protection Technologies: http://www.fire-protection.com.au/product-menu/gaseous-suppression/enclosure-integrity-test-equipment

• A.Stagg: Room Integrity Level 3 Training Presentation: Fire Protection Technologies &Energy Conservation Technologies.Sept6-7,2018

• https://retrotec.com/