Using a Blower Door in Air Sealing

Blower Doors are a tool that measure uncontrolled air infiltration into occupied spaces.

Recently, we were tasked with air sealing a room containing computer servers that utilized an air displacement fire suppression system.  The Blower Door provided us with feedback on progress we were making, and allowed us to show our customer progress made.

We began our engagement by taking a measurement of air infiltration rates into the space at a 50 pascal pressure differential.  Using this as a baseline we then worked to identify and plug holes in the space in order to reduce the air infiltration rate. 

The goal was to create a space that would keep the gas used to displace air in the server room so that fires can be extiguished.  The fire supression system requires that the gas reman in the space for a period of 10 minutes.  Prior to our arrival it was not.

We were also able to use the blower door to find the areas that needed to be air sealed.  When used in conjunction with a smoke pencil and infrared camera the hole can be easily identified.

In the end, we were able to reduce the uncontrolled air infiltration rate by 50%.  We made some quick calculations to determine if this would be sufficient to hold the gas in the space for 10 minutes by determining the number of air changes per minute at the 50 pascal pressure differential.  

We are now awaiting results from the customer who is scheduling a re-test of the fire supression system to determine if the job done will work.