Smoke Testing to Highlight Air Leakage Paths in Protected Enclosures

Smoke testing is one of the best ways of locating air leakage paths. Smoke generators or smoke pencils are used to help identify air leakage paths in the case of a room integrity test failure.

Air Pressure Testing's highly trained and experienced Enclosure Testing Engineers will be able to locate the problem areas and identify where air is leaking out of the building by walking around the test enclosure with a localised smoke puffer, pencil checking the most common problem areas first.

If required we can also undertake a large scale smoke test using a large capacity smoke generator, however this is only usually required on protected enclosures such as large data centers, however on 95% of projects we usually find that by using our experienced Air Tightness Engineers and a smoke puffer the air leakage paths can be accurately located.

The smoke won’t cause any damage to the building; however the building does needs to be emptied of all people for basic Health and Safety reasons, i.e. people falling down stairs or tripping over cables due to the poor visibility. Also, it is very important that the client contacts the local Fire Brigade to inform them of the smoke test to avoid unnecessary call outs and subsequent costs.

By combining our fan testing equipment, we blow the smoke out through any penetrations in in the enclosure envelope; this makes the air paths more visible. Smoke leaking from the enclosure can also be seen outside, and photographed to provide a record of any external leakage paths. Pressurised Smoke tests are ideal for identifying both generic and torturous areas of air leakage.

Once the smoke test has been completed and a smoke survey report forwarded to the client, targeted remedial works can then be undertaken to seal the building envelope. Once the appropriate remedial work has been undertaken the enclosure can be retested to confirm if the enclosure has passed the room integrity test and an acceptable level of integrity has been reached.

If you would like some more information in regards to Room Integrity Testing on your protected enclosure, please contact us now at: info@airpressuretesting.net, or call us on: 01525 303905. 

Room Integrity Testing Terminology

Room Integrity Testing Terminology

For fire suppression system to work properly, the room must have sufficient integrity to retain an extinguishing concentration for a specified period after discharge - usually 10 minutes) if the enclosure can’t adequately hold the extinguishment the fire may reignite causing further damage. As this is the predominant cause of failure, the British and International Standard (BS: ISO14520) requires that a server room integrity test be conducted on system installation and thereafter at annual intervals, failure to do so may negate your buildings insurance. 

What is a Descending Interface

The fire retardant agent is discharged from the ceiling –highest point) into the protected enclosure. An ‘interface’ with a constant concentration - known as the Initial Concentration) descends from the discharge level as gas leaves escapes from the enclosure via air leakage paths. The time it takes for this ‘interface’ to reach the minimum protected height such as the top of the server racks is defined as the Hold time. The time retention time for a Room Integrity Test Pass is usually set at 10 minutes.

What is Continual Mixing

The suppressant Agent is discharged at near-ceiling level into the enclosure, thereafter fans circulate gas throughout the room, resulting in a uniform agent concentration. This concentration begins at initial concentration and lowers until it eventually reaches a specified minimum concentration. The time it takes for the initial concentration to reach the minimum concentration is defined as the hold time.

What is an Extended Discharge

Typically extended discharges consist of an initial discharge for 10 to 60 seconds to get the concentration up to the design concentration. Then the extended discharge will continue at a lesser rate. The intention is for the extended discharge to replace the agent that leaks out of the room. It is assumed that the extended discharge will create enough turbulence to create a continual mixing situation throughout the extended discharge period.

We hope the above information has been helpful, if you require a room integrity test, please contact us now at info@airpressuretesting.net or call us on 07775623464.