User Manual

Fire Safety
59
Building Technologies 049_Archives_and_Libraries_A6
V10271399_a_en.doc
Fire Safety & Security Products 03.2009
The door fan tests yield two important results:
– Predicted hold time: An indication of how long
the protected area will retain the extinguishant
for
– Equivalent Leakage Area (ELA): The total area
of leakage
For more details please refer to brochure
SinorixTM Door-Fan-Test 0-92052-en
Fig. 33 Door-Fan-Test
4.4.9 Key engineering rules for extinguishing systems in archives and libraries
The reliability of an extinguishing solution lays not only on
the quality of the single components part of the system.
Correct engineering, proper system design and applica-
tion know-how, and quality of installation are the remain-
ing components needed. The following criteria must be
carefully observed when designing an extinguishing sys-
tem for a mission critical application like Archives and
libraries
Fig. 34 Extinguishing battery
Minimum nozzle pressure: 10bars
When extinguishing with Novec
TM
1230 systems, a minimum pressure of 10 bars
will assure optimal evaporation of the extinguishing agent and homogeneous dis-
tribution in the room. This is a key factor since Novec
TM
1230 is stored as a liquid
and its extinguishing effect occurs in its gas phase.
Even though HFC227ea is a bi-phase fluid, the “10 bar at the nozzle” criteria also
has to be observed, to ensure complete evaporation and homogeneous distribution
of the agent in the room.
Therefore it is strongly recommended that even furthest nozzles (those with the
lowest pressure) are calculated in the design Software to work with a minimum
pressure of 10 bars. This will guarantee that the extinguishing concentration is
quickly achieved and the fire is put out in the minimum possible time.
Also when extinguishing with inert gases is recommended to adopt the minimum
10 bar criteria. This leads to an ideal mixture between extinguishing agent and at-
mospheric air and therefore to a fast and reliable extinguishing.
Maximum nozzle height: 5m
Whenever the room is higher than 5 m it is recommended (mandatory according to
VdS) that a second nozzle layer is installed. This assures fast and homogeneous
distribution of the extinguishing agent to build up the extinguishing concentration.
The lower layer of nozzles should discharge 1/3 of the extinguishant to be flooded
into the ambient and the upper nozzles, the remaining 2/3.
Maximum flooding time: 10s (chemical agents) / 60s or 120s (natural agents)
When designing chemical agent systems, fulfilling the 10s flooding time assures
the extinguishing concentration will build up quickly and consequently the fire will