Room Integrity
An Integrity test predicts how long fire suppressant agents take to descend to a given level in the room without having to release the gas itself. This is done by sealing the room and testing the air pressure with our blower door fan equipment.
First the room is pressurised and readings are taken, then afterwards the room is depressurised to take further measurements to compare against the initial readings. The predicted retention time is calculated from these leakage characteristics and the enclosure and extinguishing system data.
A retention time of 10 minutes is the typical minimum period the suppressant agents are required to be retained for. 10 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 BS5306 and NFPA2001. It is applicable to all sizes of enclosure and all extinguishing gases, including IG55, IG541, FM200, FE25, HFC 227ea, FE25, Novec 1230 and CO2. After initial installation, integrity tests should be carried out at least annually thereafter.
